


Little Orange Men

by cool_ha_ha



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Episode: s04 ep08 Little Green Men, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Time, Getting Together, M/M, Mental Instability, Multi, Recovery, Sex, Sitcom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:00:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27841897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cool_ha_ha/pseuds/cool_ha_ha
Summary: So what if Quark, Odo, Nog and Rom never made it out of 1947?
Relationships: Odo/Quark (Star Trek)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 20





	1. Panic, Plan and Prepare

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Stardate Unknown](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27425236) by [ee3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ee3/pseuds/ee3). 



> The inspiration for this story made me tingle. I loved it so much except for how negative it is. Here's my comedic take on the same idea.

Quark grabbed for Odo’s wrist as they entered the mushroom cloud. Nog winced. Rom braved it out and piloted the ship nervously toward possible death.

Upon opening their eyes, Rom stared out into the distance, his face stuck in fear.  
“Rom, did we do it?” Quark said with his hand still firmly gripping Odo’s sleeve.  
“No..” Rom replied, his eyes fixed out into the vast open space.  
“What?” Nog blurted out.  
Rom shook his head. “I- I can’t see any evidence we’re back in our own timeline.”  
Quark can hear Rom’s breathing getting gradually heavier. Rom suddenly snaps toward the console and stars pressing buttons. “I can’t get a modern day signal. There’s nothing. Nothing!”  
Odo stepped in. “I don’t know about anyone else, but it's been a stressful 2 days and I think we need recuperation time to plan our next move.”  
Quark nods along. “You’re right. Earth hasn’t met aliens yet. We’re putting ourselves at risk by flying around aimlessly.”  
“Where should I land?” Rom says no one in particular.  
Nog flicks through his book. “This continent has areas completely covered in snow to the north and complete deserts to the south. I’d pick somewhere remote in the middle.”  
“Remind me to give the chief and the doctor a free drink when we get back.” Quark says in Nog’s direction.

*

Odo thanks the prophets that it was night when they landed. They found a small town in Colorado and basically landed in the mountains. Quark took it upon himself to investigate, but Odo shifted into a dog and followed by his side. Quark now knows he can't even talk to him because Humans don’t talk to dogs. 

The town was as basic as any other. Basic industry, low population, low crime rate, weary neighbors. Outside of a few people giving Quark the dead eye, it’s quiet enough to settle in and wait for rescue if Rom runs out of ideas.

Rom is still drawing up ideas in the craft. Nog sits with his knees to his chest. “Do you think I’m ever going to make it to starfleet?” he says.  
Rom doesn’t even look at him. “After what we just survived, that should be the last thing on your mind.”  
Nog sank further.

Quark and Odo returned after a few hours.  
“Family meeting.” Quark parks himself in the driver's seat. “As Odo says, we need to blend in until we can get the hell out of here.”  
Odo continues for him. “We are already breaking serious time traveling laws, which leads me to the conclusion Starfleet or some such will notice our disappearance and get us out before we ruin first contact or something.”  
Rom and Nog look uncomfortable.  
Quark keeps going. “Luckily for us, we have three Ferengi, a shapeshifter and technology from 400 years in the future to work with and this primitive lifestyle is one we can handle.”  
Nog claps his knees. “So what’s the plan?”

Odo and Quark glance at each other.  
Quark explains. “By the looks of things, these people have similar lives to our own. They pair up, get jobs, buy a house and breed. First thing on the list should be finding accommodation and hiding the ship.”  
Odo jumps in. “Quark and myself have opted for finding a job which we will use to pay for housing. Rom, we’re leaving you free to try and fix the ship enough to either get us home or send a signal, but not fly. We can’t leave the planet without causing more damage.”  
“What about me?” Nog asks quietly.  
Quark lets Odo take this one. “You are old enough to work, but we are not expecting you to contribute. This society is nothing like the Humans you know.”  
Nog frowns. “You don’t think I can handle it?”  
Quark jumps in. “We’re not saying that. We just want you to assess your options and make a decision. You’re the youngest and we don’t want you to just settle. If school becomes an option, take it, but for now, let's just get to try to blend in.”

Odo nods. “Well said. Right, I’ll go have a word with the local policing system tomorrow-”  
Nog raises his hand. “Odo … I have a few concerns.”  
Odo waits.  
Nog coughs nothing up. “Urm … If we are all going to be sharing a house, I’m worried we’re going to look suspicious.”  
“Is this about my face?”  
Nog gasps “NO! If they can forgive ears 10 times bigger than their own, I’m sure they can handle missing eyebrows. No, I was going to mention that same sex coupling is illegal here.”

Odo and Quark frown at each other then back to Nog.  
Nog sighs. “4 guys in a house, 3 are family, what does that make the fourth?”  
Odo’s face dropped. “OH. I hadn’t thought about that.”  
Nog cringes as he says it. “And I can’t imagine you wanna be the family dog until we get rescued…”  
Quark grins. “That leaves one option…”  
Odo looks mardy. “Do female police officers exist here?”  
Nog nods. Quark silently giggles to himself. Rom is still looking at the console.  
“I need to regenerate. That leaves one of you on watch and then I’ll take over. Good night.” Odo quickly slinsk off. Quark is still laughing. 

*

It took a matter of days before Odo had a female persona, Quark had found a little company that gave him work as some sort of sales manager in a newspaper office and they had a deposit down on a house under the name Quark Smith.

They had decided they were from Hungary and France and had emigrated for profit. No one questioned this and just let it happen. Nog’s current job was to learn these people inside out and build more cover stories. Odo had decided she’s Quark’s wife, but Quark was now off limits to his colleagues. He’s sure Odo did that on purpose. Adultery is frowned upon here and Odo knows that. Quark has been cock blocked from here until they change the story. 

Rom set up shop in the garage and hasn’t come out since. They drilled him a hammock into the wall because he was falling asleep in the cockpit of the ship every night.

Since domestic life had been established, Odo had her work life. Mostly patrolling and writing reports for the other officers, which she’s sure is because she’s a woman, but the fact is she reads and writes faster than any man here and with less mistakes. She also reorganized the evidence locker so the items inside were organised by number. No one’s stopped her yet. No one also noticed that she didn’t buy a uniform, but aw well.

The men at work mention how their wives do the grocery shopping. Odo plays along and makes her first trip into the local supermarket. Nog tags along as Odo has no idea what’s edible for Ferengi. Nog basically walks straight through the veg aisle and toward all the jars and tins. Odo picks a few random things up to make the trolley look slightly similar to everyone else's’.

Nog picks up boxes and shakes them, checks the sugar content, sniffs random bags and packets and methodically decides what Odo needs to buy. Odo just lets him. She keeps her eyes open for potential threats, but everyone is just so quiet keeping their heads down and focusing on what they need.

Another woman runs her trolley very close to Odo’s. “Excuse me, do you need that?” She points to some jar with a chunky substance in it. “There's no more and the little one is going to throw a hissy fit if I can’t get it.”  
Odo doesn’t even know what it is but gives it to her anyway. “I don’t need it as much as you, obviously.”   
“Oh my gosh thank you. Marmite’s his favourite.”  
Odo just nods.

The woman notices Nog. “Is he yours?”  
“Oh, no. My … nephew? Nog.”  
Nog perked up when he heard his name then went back down into the frozen section.   
The woman smiled. “Aw, cute name. I’ve seen your family around, but I don’t suppose you’ve had much time to get to know anyone.”  
Odo is getting nervous. “No, I suppose not.”  
“Well if ya ever need anything, I live just down the road.” The woman gave Odo a big smile and carried on with her shopping.

Nog dropped several packets of fish in the trolley. “Who was that?”  
“A new friend I think.”

At the till, Odo stands and waits while Nog packs. Apparently this is also customary here. Odo spots a magazine called lifestyle. The fact these people need weekly catalogs to keep up to date with their own habits is hilarious and terrifying. What if she’s missed something. She picks it up. There are recipes, gossip about some person she supposes is famous, women complaining about their sex lives and tricks and tips and stories. Odo slams a handful on the til. Nog gives her a look.

*

Quark spends his day writing up numbers and making observations about them. So many sales here, so many there. His coworkers are nice but the social dynamic is throwing him off. The women like being harassed apparently and the guys spend most of their day complaining about their wives and smoking. Quark can’t complain. The girls don’t want his attention. He doesn’t smoke and the jokes go in one ear and out the other. He has no issue with them personally.

Quark has also decided he hates paper and pen. The quicker padds are invented the better. Paper cuts, ink leaks, shredding and filing are driving him mad. The thought of Rom going barmy in the garage also wasn’t helping. He can’t remember the last time he had a decent meal. But that’s supposed to be Odo’s job, not that she can smell it or taste it herself.

When he does finally get home, Odo has been shopping, cooked up a fish to the best of her ability and is sat reading on the couch in silence.  
“What ya reading?”  
“Lifestyle magazine. I’m reading 10 ways to spice up your sex life at the moment because the story about some scandal in hollywood disinterests me.”  
Quark looked befuddled. “Huh?”  
“You wouldn't get it. The next section is about making the most of supplies around the house.”  
“Right .. has Rom eaten?”  
“I haven’t seen him yet, no.”  
Quark sighs and stomps off to see if he’s okay.

“ROM!”  
His head pops out of the ship. “Yes brother.”  
“Soups on.”  
“I- I’ll come get some later.” He disappears back into the ship.  
Quark just shakes his head. He’s not going to eat dinner. He never does.

Nog spends a lot of time in the garden hunting bugs. He did his research here too and found that there are only a few Human cultures that eat insects and figured out how they are collected and processed. Sometimes he’ll go out into the woods and fill a few empty jars of bugs, worms and so on. Rom needs them most. They noticed he’s not eating. He’s considered just farming them, but if they get caught they don’t have an excuse.

Nog watched Quark chew into an onion like an apple the other day. Their fruit bowl doesn’t quite match the ones in the magazines Odo’s been reading, but it's close enough. The cupboards have food. The living room has furnishings. It's as Human as they’re going to get and Nog is okay with this. A lot more okay than he thought he would be. Jake would be proud.

The house has 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. Quark and Odo accept their roles and live in the master bedroom like a couple. Nog takes the other room and leaves Rom’s bed just in case he gives up and comes back into the house. The last time they saw him was yesterday when he ran in, grabbed a spoon and ran back into the garage. They’ve decided he’s an inventor if anyone asks. The replicator still works, but it's for emergencies only. Medical equipment isn’t great in this time period and resources to make the ship work at all are low enough as it is.


	2. Settling in and making adjustments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family get to know the locals.

Nog spends most of his day wandering freely around the town and into the woodland nearby. He’s thinking about applying for a school or getting an apprenticeship, he just hasn’t decided what feild.

“HEY!”  
Nog spins toward a young woman chasing her dog toward him. He can see by the woman's expression that she wants him to stop the dog and he bravely falls to one knee and catches its lead, slowing the dog down and giving its owner a chance to catch up.

“Oh my gosh, thank you. He saw something and just yanked that lead right outta my hand.”  
Nog handed her the lead back and took in her long red hair and skirt covers everything down to the ankle. He quickly remembers the jars of bugs and the fact he’s covered in grass and mud from scampering around on the floor.   
“Urm… Yeah .. thats dogs for ya?” he smiles awkwardly. She looks him up and down. He was dressed right for his age in this time period but the ears and skin tone must have caught her off guard. “What ya doing all the way out here?”  
She grins. “I could ask you the same question.”  
Nog thinks fast. “I am … collecting bugs … because I have an interest -- in bugs?”  
She laughs. “Strange hobby, but my brother collects eggs.”  
“Like from the supermarket?”  
She laughs even harder. “No, like from trees.” She mimics him. He smiles too. He forgot how birds and nests and eggs work on this planet.

“Hey, you never answered my question.”  
She calms herself down. “I was taking Fin for a walk.” The dog jumps up at her, hearing his name.  
“And what's your name?”  
She blushes. “Julie.”  
“I’m Nog.” He holds his hand out. She giggles and shakes it. “You wanna help me collect bugs?” Nog has a moment of panic, realising he’s talking to a Human female, not Jake or Rom.  
“Oh, no sorry. My aunt will be expecting me back soon, but .. thank you for catching Fin.”  
He smiles weakly. “No worries.”  
She smiles back and turns to leave. “It's been nice meeting you, Nog.”  
“And you .. Julie.”

Nog completed his task and skidded back into town, the jars rattling in his backpack, he ran home and straight to Quark.  
Quark was tampering with the radio.  
“Uncle, I met a girl.”  
Quark spun around. “WHAT?”  
“Julie. She’s staying with her aunt. They have a dog.”  
“Did she say anything about your lobes?”  
“What? No. I told her I have an interest in bugs and she told me her brother collects eggs.”  
Quark frowned. “Like from the supermarket?”  
“No from trees.”  
“How’d they get there?”  
Odo walks by. “Birds, Quark. If you looked up every now and then, you might see more than the end of your nose.”  
Quark sticks his finger out at her. “Well if you could see beyond the end of your nose you’d see … the … something about the other side of the room you freak.”

Odo just raised an eyebrow.  
Nog tapped his fingers with embarrassment.  
Odo waited.  
Quark refused to back down.  
Odo gives him a smug smile and continues. “Quark, your insults are a little weak today. This magazine says-”  
“Get your nose outta those girly little magazines. There! Close enough. Nog, what were you saying?”  
“ … It doesn’t matter.” Nog slowly leaves Odo and Quark to it. He needs to find her again.

*

A few weeks on.  
Odo leads in the pursuit of a crook. She bolts after a man in black and follows him down every alley and over every fence. Eventually she had him cornered. Out of breath and desperate, he produces a knife. Odo laughs to herself. The man lunges and Odo takes the hit and takes the guy to the ground. She cuffs him with real handcuffs, knowing she’ll have to let go of him at some point and waits with the purp’ for back up.

That afternoon she was called into the gov’s office. She’s expecting to be commended for her efforts as none of her colleagues could keep up.

“So miss …”  
Odo looks around. “Mrs Smith.”  
“Right, Mrs Smith. I was reading through your report and the testimony of the guy you caught-” Odo sat straight up, waiting to hear some good news. “-But he claims he stabbed you … But you didn’t bleed, or feel it, or … well you don’t have a scratch on you.”  
Odo had developed a good poker face. “He missed.”  
The man taps his pen. “We also have witness’s say they saw you get stabbed and with similar stories.”  
“They must have been wrong.”  
He looks like he’s losing patience. “Mrs Smith … we have 3 eye witnesses saying the same thing. Are you telling me they’re all crazy? Or are you trying to cover something up here?”  
Odo stood her ground. “It was a close call, but I can assure you, I was not hit by that knife.”  
“Right … You’re free to go, Ma’am.”  
Odo nods and takes her leave.  
They need to adjust the plan.

Odo calls in on her friend down the road; Barbra, from the supermarket.  
“Oh hello. Lemme guess, you need a cup of sugar.” She laughs.  
Odo smiles along. “No actually, I thought I’d invite you on a little day trip I’m planning. I couldn’t help but notice how drab my wardrobe has become.” All words used in those magazines.  
Barb smiles. “And you need a second pair of eyes to escort you on a shopping trip?”  
“Couldn’t have said it better myself. How's this weekend?”  
“I’ll have to get someone to watch Harry while we’re out-”  
“I’m sure I could convince Nog to do help us out.”  
She recoils. “Are you sure? A young man like that, with no child care experience-”  
Odo waves it off. “Oh please. How else am I supposed to scare him off girls?”  
Barb laughed hard. “Oh good point. He can always run to my neighbour if it's too much.”  
“Exactly. Best case scenario, he’s an excellent father figure. Worst case scenario, he asks for help.”  
She nods. “You know how to put a girl at ease don’t ya? Sure. I’ll drive us outta town on saturday.”  
“Can’t wait.”

Meanwhile Quark chewed a pencil and watched one of the receptionists. He’s not said anything lewd near the men yet, since Nog says it's off limits, but maybe he can try it on with a lady just for the reaction.

He slides over to her, tongue on his teeth ready for it. “You wanna hear a joke?”  
She gives him a side glance.   
“So .. A guy is getting arrested by a female officer, right? She says ‘anything you say will be held against you.’”  
The woman is listening but isn’t reacting.  
“So he says ‘boobs’” He bursts into laughter.   
She sighs and walks away.  
“Aw well I tried.”  
One of the men over hearing this pops up from his desk. “Isn’t your wife an officer?”  
Quark scoffs. “She’s the one who told me the joke.”

The new man skips over. “How’d that happen?”  
“I was in the brigg. I had some time to kill. CELL. I meant holding cell.”  
He laughs. “So she arrested you and then told you a joke?”  
Quark though that night through. “Basically. We talked a lot anyway. The fact I was locked up at the time was just coincidence”   
A few other guys were listening now.   
Quark notices. “You wanna hear a few more?”  
A few of his co-workers nodded.

Meanwhile Rom has made the garage into more than a work space. The walls were a spider diagram of information he might need. Ideas, plans, chemicals, schematics and so on. The ship was still operational, but it didn’t have enough power to time travel, so the new plan was to try and convert this time period’s energy into energy the ship can use, that at least the replicator can be used for anything without running the ship dry.

“Dad, I’m home.” Nog cries from the kitchen. “Julie and I went for a really long walk and we think I should try and get into education. What do ya think?”  
Rom frowned. “What about starfleet?”  
Nog was messing about in the kitchen. “No offense, but what about now? I just do nothing until we get outta here? That’d be suspicious.”  
Rom sank slightly. 

The front door went again. “Nog, you’re busy this saturday.”  
“What, why?”  
“Babysitting Barbra’s Harry for a few hours while I go shopping.”  
Rom frowned again. Odo … going shopping?  
Nog continued to moan. “Why do I have to do it?”  
“Do you have something better to do with your weekend?”  
Nog groaned “Fine, but I’m asking Julie if she can join us.”  
“Ask Barb first, not Julie.”  
“I’ll run by tomorrow.”  
Rom was confused now. When was all this established? Does Nog have a girlfriend? Is Odo being social? Why’s Quark not home yet?

Meanwhile Quark sat by the bar, a glass in his hand. “So here's another one my friend Morn told me. How do you make your wife scream during sex?”  
The guys leaned in.  
“You call ‘n’ tell her about it.”   
All the men laugh. One of them hands him another drink. “One more, one more.”  
Quark was struggling to think of ones that didn’t involve Ferengi specifically or Cardassians. He remembers overhearing a few from O’brien and Bashir. “Okay, what do you call a cheap circumcision? “  
The blokes look slightly affronted.  
“A rip off.”  
They all cringe and laugh. Quark smiles to himself. He can do this for days. The beer isn’t too bad either.

*

Saturday comes and Odo is going actual clothes shopping with Barb. Odo is fascinated by the car they’re driving. She’s not been in an automobile yet. “I’ve heard these are expensive.”  
“Oh it cost a fortune, but Ralph always wanted a car.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Odo covers her mouth.  
“Oh no, I can’t think of anything more fitting to pay for with the insurance money than something he wanted to share with our son.”  
Odo tried to move the subject along. “Was learning difficult?”  
“Oh, I wouldn’t say so. Once you know what everything does, it’s just a matter of using it until your muscle memory picks it up.”  
Odo nods. “You don’t have a manual for this car, do you?”  
“Should do. You wanna start learning?”  
“Already have.” Odo said, watching the road and Barbs driving in detail. 

Meanwhile Nog played with Harry while Julie brough drinks out from inside the house.  
Nog let Harry chase him around the yard a few times before scooping him up and dropping him at the table with Julie.  
“Well look at you. I didn’t know you were good with kids.”  
Nog looked back up at her. “Me neither, actually.”  
She laughed. Nog likes making her laugh.  
Harry was already pulling Nog back to his playthings. Nog happily shrugged at Julie and let the boy pull him away. She continued to laugh.

Meanwhile Quark is now his office’s favourite person. As much fun as he has had with the guys, it's the girls he needs to get to know.  
He calls Sandra over to take his work to the boss. She sticks her nose up at him. “What did I do?” He asks, offended.  
“You must not think we can hear you, ya know.”  
“Huh?”  
“With all the things you say about us, I’m surprised you’re still married.”  
Quark looks confused. “Because I make jokes? Listen sweetheart, I don’t dish out what I can’t take. If I’ve overstepped a boundary tell me, otherwise, hit me with your best shot.” He gave her a warning look.  
She looked angry for a second then straightened up. “When is it okay to love thy neighbour?”  
Quark frowns.  
“When his wife is outta town.”  
Quark snaps into smiling. She giggles. “That. Is one for Odo.”  
“You think she’ll find it funny?”  
“I know she will.”

Meanwhile  
Odo stood in a changing room. She’d picked a few outfits, some underwear, shoes and even hair accessories. Basically, anything that might need to be removed from Odo, or fall off, needs the ability to do so. She looks at herself in the mirror and quietly shifts naked. This is a big step she’s not sure any founder has ever taken, and it's not one she thought she’d ever take.

Bra and pants were simple enough. Barb says she doesn’t need a corset or anything so straight on to tights and shirt. Skirt and shoes followed. Already she felt heavier, constricted. But it's the best way to keep Quark and Nog safe. The jacket finished it. She’d work hair out in her own time. Maybe she needs a hair brush? No, she can untangle it in private by shifting. But if the time ever came when someone pulled the scrunchies out, the hair actually needs to fall.

She showed Barb who gave her a little encouraging round of applause. “You look fantastic.”  
“That's a compliment to your fashion choices for me.”  
“What can I say. I got a good model to work with.”  
Odo purposefully blushed. Barb pushed her back into the changing room.

Meanwhile  
Nog and Julie sat on Barb's couch. Harry had worn himself out and was currently all curled up under a blanket.

A song came on the radio and Nog had an idea. He stood up quietly and offered her his hand. She played along and took it, also quietly raising to her feet. As the song played, Nog held her hip and side stepped like he’d seen others in this time period do. She smiled and nudged his feet to follow her lead. He picked up the pattern and they worked in tadom.

The two could hardly stop giggling. Nog’s hand felt stuck to her side, and the weight on her on his shoulder was thrilling in a really mundane way. Their closeness made him excited, and by the smile on her face, he was sure she was too. Nog knows this song well enough to time his next move down. He stepped back and spun her around, her skirt lifting at the speed and her catching his eyes quickly as he pulled her back into position.

The moment was quick, but she smiled. The song was coming to an end. He doesn’t want this to stop. She looked like she was expecting something from him, but what? Then he realised, but he might be wrong. She kept his eye contact but lowered her head. He let go of her hand and held the side of her face. She just kept looking at him, not stopping him, not encouraging him.

He tilted his head and closed his eyes, closing the gap between them and kissing her firmly on the lips.

Meanwhile  
Quark was comparing sales from one area of the country to another. Bajorans call them provinces. Here they’re called states. In some states, the papers sell like hot cakes, in others, they’re actually losing money. He needs to have a word with his boss.

“Mr Smith, I’m not sure how politics works where you come from, but over here, our states are segregated into two parties. We are in a red state; Reublican. The states where we are failing are blue; Democrat.”  
Quark frowned. “Then we either need to pander to the masses or only sell to those who are willing to buy.”  
The man frowned. “And cut out our buyers in blue states? Are you trying to cause trouble?”  
Quark leaned back. “I’m just saying we are losing money over there. I’m sure they can find some sucker willing to sell them a paper with red opinions in it in their own states, but we need to concentrate on our market and compete with the same league.”  
His boss tapped his pen. “You willing to put your money where your mouth is.”  
“Everytime.”  
“Then how about I put incharge of such an endeavour? Let's say … if it works, you keep your job.”  
Quark senses the threat. “And if it does profit, let's say … I take a cut, since it was my idea.”  
The man fought back. “Let's say you get a promotion.”  
“How far up the ranks am I going?”  
“We’ll decide that when we see how much money’s coming in.”  
Quark grins. “Deal.”

Later.  
Barb drops Odo back at her house so she can collect Nog. On the couch, Nog had his arm around Julie while Harry coloured on the floor.   
“Oh you’re back early.” Nog stated.  
Odo and Barb smiled at each other.

They walked home together, Nog carrying some of her bags.  
“You got something you want to tell me?” Odo said out loud.  
Nog actually looked at her. “You gonna tell Quark?”  
“Hm, only if you don’t.”  
Nog gulped.

Quark finally burst in from work. “Honey I’m home! And I got great news.”  
Odo shoved him to the kitchen and provided food. “As do myself and Nog.”  
“Oh then by all means, you first.”  
Odo took her apron off and dropped it. Quark looked confused.  
“It’s real?”  
Odo just smiled smugly. Quark grins. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do … or else you get caught apparently.” Odo swans back to the oven.  
Quark turns to Nog. “And you?”  
“I asked Julie out and she said yes.” Nog hid in his shoulders.  
Quark lit up. “Well look at you! You just need a job now, then you’ll be shooting for the Earth dream or whatever its called.”  
Odo chimed in. “American dream, darling.”  
“That's the one.”

Nog tapped his fingers. “I was expecting you to be mad.”  
Quark started eating. “Why?”  
“Well… We might be leaving. How long do I lead her on for before she notices I’m drinking slugs? What if she wants to get married? What about the timeline?”  
Odo and Quark both froze up. Nog waits.

Odo speaks first. “Are all the curtains closed?”  
“As always.” Nog answers slowly.  
Odo shifts back to male and removes the heels and female clothes.  
Quark catches on and runs his tongue over his teeth. “So what? She’s just a hu-mon fe-male.” He looks down almost shamefully.  
Odo talks facing the counter. “If we were messing up the timeline, Starfleet's little time team would have come for us by now.” His voice was grating to hear after so many weeks, a few months, of hearing his lady voice.  
“Odo’s right. When we leave, she won’t even remember us.”  
No one sounded happy.

Another painful silence.   
Quark strained to speak. “Maybe go tell your father the good news?”  
Nog stood and Odo stopped him. “Take him something to eat while you’re going in that direction, will you?”  
Nog nodded and took his dad's plate with him.  
Odo and Quark looked each other up and down awkwardly.  
“What was your good news?”  
Quark snapped out of it. “Oh, I .. made a wager with my boss. I might have a promotion coming up soon.”  
Odo smiled for him. “Good. Too bad when we leave, it won’t matter.”  
Quark sank. “Right.. Right.”


	3. Developing feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odo and Quark establish an unspoken rule, while Nog and his lady friend start to straighten out some creases.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically is all relationship stuff. The mature rating applies ... I think.

Another month.

Quark basically trips through the door. “Sweetheart!”  
Odo calls back from the kitchen. “Give me the good news.” She says with fingers crossed.  
“The plan has been a success. I just got us a few extra strips coming in every month.”  
Odo holds his face, smiling with him. “How many times must I tell you, it's ‘dollars’ here. You’re bringing in extra notes, or coins, or a heavier pay cheque-”  
“Well, I was thinking I take us all out to celebrate. What do you think?”  
Odo thought about it. “I’m not sure Rom will be interested, and Nog is either at work or in his room with you-know-who.”  
Quark held her back. “Then we’ll take her out instead of Rom. Could be good to get to know the girl better.”

Odo ran her thumbs along the bottom on his ears. Quark’s eyes rolled backward. “Then I’ll pick an outfit and tell Nog to dress nice.”  
Quark held her wrists. “What did I do to deserve you?”  
Odo whispered it. “You tried to smuggle an illegal substance through space.”  
Quark froze up. “Oops. Yeah.”  
Odo giggled. “Go wash up. I’m thinking we go somewhere public and familiar.”  
“You know I love being the center of attention in gossip form.”  
“Exactly.”

The next few hours were perfect. Nog was an absolute gentleman with Julie and Quark did his best dad impression. Odo revealed the feeling of boring, ordered normality. Quark even held her hand. Nog invited Julie up for a dance. Quark nodded Odo up, and Odo agreed.

Quark spent most of the evening bragging about his promotion and enjoying the drinks bought for him. Odo got to know Julie a little better, but Odo can’t say she knows how to talk to other women like this. Nog was also praised for his ability to find work in construction. It's just more number crunching and designing spaces. Quark was still extra proud of him.

The walk home was still buzzing with tonight's energy. Nog walked Julie home. Quark and Odo waited on the pavement, but by the looks of things, he’s been invited in and he’s not coming back anytime soon.

Odo kicks her heels off as soon as they are through the door and helps Quark out his jacket. He did the same for her.   
They collapsed on the couch together and took in the still atmosphere.  
Odo put her arm around Quark. Quark nuzzled the back of his head into her. She took him further in. “I’m so proud of you.” She says, pulling him closer.  
He laughs. “Wouldn’t have said that back at the station.”  
Odo gives him a look. “You’re not a criminal here.”  
“I’m still a greedy little Ferengi.”  
“I never had a problem with that part.”  
Quark raised his eyebrows.

Meanwhile.  
Nog is quietly led through Julie's aunt's house. It's a big house. Nog is shown to her room and happily takes her in his arms, kissing her the way she told him. She backs them onto the bed and they happily make out, laid together.

“Nog, mind if we talk?”  
Nog barely moved but nodded.  
She stroked his ear. He gasped. “Tell me about where you’re from.”  
Nog tried to pull himself together. “It - It's kinda like here. We still get jobs, raise families, travel and so on.”  
“But what's different? Why did you move?”  
“We -we move by accident actually. We were supposed to be leaving shortly after we got here, but - But we never did. I used to meet lots of different people. The rules were different. The people were different.” He held her hands in his own.

She giggled. “What do you mean different though?”  
He shrugged. “Well… for one, being gay isn’t a crime.”  
She laughed even harder. “What?”  
He smiled along. “No one cares. My first kiss was with a guy actually.”  
“You’re lying now.” She said playfully.  
“No. We were having fun and I stole a kiss. He wasn’t sure if he was into it, but we tried it out for a while. We decided to stay friends.”  
Her smile was getting weaker. “Is that why you kiss differently?”  
“No, I kiss differently because of my teeth.” He smiled. “But I love you and I just know it’s gonna work out.”

She recoiled slightly. “But what if you leave?”  
Nog pulled her back in. “I would never leave you if you didn’t want me to. I am happy with whatever makes you happy.”  
She held him tighter. “I love you too, Nog.”

Meanwhile  
Odo melts out her clothes and into night wear.  
Quark lowered his glasses. “Odo, why don’t you get naked?” he said curiously.  
Odo tied her hair up. “Faster to get ready for bed this way.”  
Quark closed his book. “But why get ready for bed?”  
Odo talks to Quark through the mirror. “If Barb drops by or something, I need to show I have a bedtime routine.”  
Quark smiles. “Barb, huh?”  
Odo smiles. “Yes .. Barb. Do you have a problem with that?”  
“No no, not a problem at all.”

Odo twists to face him. “Showing interest in her would be illegal, Quark.”  
“What about if Odo had a “brother”?”  
Odo laughs and goes for the bed. “I think I like Barb as a friend.”  
Quark laughs along as Odo climbs into bed with him. “Well if you ever wanna get ‘divorced’-”  
Odo playfully hits him. Quark laughs along.

She picks up her book and reads comfortably just like every night. When Quark turns the light off, she’ll melt away to the bucket under the bed. For now, they discuss the day and have down time together.

She watches as Quark keeps getting distracted, looking over then changing his mind. Odo sighs. “Something wrong, dear?”  
Quark fidgets before saying it. “You wanna have sex?”  
Odo shoots a look at Quark.  
Quark was expecting a no, so silence is already a good sign. “I - I wouldn’t mind taking this marriage all the way. If you felt the same way, that is?”  
Odo looks confused now. “Quark, this isn’t real.”  
Quark jumps up to sit on his feet. “But it is Odo. It's been real from day one. We made a decision to do everything a real family would do, and you’ve done more than I could ever ask of any other woman.” Odo looks shocked. Quark continues. “You got a job, you’re the perfect housewife, you’re emotionally supportive, you take care of Nog, you saved my ass in area 51 and the icing on the cake; You’re fucking hot.”  
Odo physically blushed at that.  
Quark took her hand. “If you’re not interested, I get it. But I want you to know that as far as I’m concerned, this is real and everything you’ve done for this family is noticed and appreciated. --- I love you, Odo.” Quark never took his eyes from hers.

Odo can’t say anyone has ever spoken to her like that. No one has ever been enthusiastic enough about her actions enough to appreciate them, but she’s so glad it was Quark. He got to know her as security, as his enemy, but since getting stuck here, they couldn’t have grown any other way.

Odo leans forward and takes Quark's mouth to her own. She felt Quark shudder and react. Even this felt right.   
“Can we take this further? Would you have me?” Quark whimpers, shaking under the pressure.  
“Shouldn’t I be saying will YOU have ME?”  
Quark shrugs. “I can go either way.”  
Odo grins and pins Quark to the bed by his shoulders. “You know that's not allowed around here.”  
Quark flips them over, straddling her hips. “What are you gonna do? Take me to the brigg?”  
“It's how we met, if you recall?”  
“I sure do, and I loved every second of it.”  
Odo ran her fingers down his buttons. “Even the part where I confiscated your earnings?”  
“It was a pleasant pain- because I got to see more of you.”  
Odo was sold.

Quark heard her shift but couldn’t see what. She sat up and undid his buttons. Quark can’t believe it worked. He’s got a wife .. and they’re going to have sex.  
“If we’re doing this for intimacy, I want you naked.” Odo demands.  
Quark got off to take his bottoms off, standing and awkwardly bouncing to kick them off. “You know that's against the Ferengi rules.”  
Odo put her legs just underneath the sheets. “No one will know.”  
Quark climbed into the sheets, and right over Odo. “Then I think I deserve the same courtesy.” He started pulling her nightgown up. Odo helped him.  
While Quark was staring, Odo took Quark’s pajama shirt from him. 

“Did I ever tell you how beautiful you are?”  
Odo laughed. “Not until recently.”  
Quark closed the gap between them. “Then let me make up for it.” He tilts his head for another kiss. “You are beautiful.”  
Odo encouraged the kiss, letting Quark have as much body contact as he wanted. Quark liked their chests touching. He likes feeling her skin against his. He likes holding her curves. He likes her hair in his fingers. He likes Odo generally. Everything she’s done, everything she is. She’s perfect.

Odo felt Quark press himself against her under the sheets. “You’re a little excited.” She said playfully.  
“Little would be an understatement.” he said grinding further into her.   
She giggled leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. “I’m ready when you are.”  
Quark pulled his hips slightly back and lined himself up, sliding inside in one swift motion. His eyes shut and his whole body felt weak. Odo remained propped half upright, her legs around his hips, their legs overlapping. Quark took a few deep breaths and laughed, looking back up and catching Odo’s eyes again. “You’re still beautiful.”  
Odo rolled her eyes and took back into a kiss. He started moving at a relatively fast pace, but with no force behind it.

Odo felt him rubbing himself against her shapeshifted walls. She liked how close they were. She likes Quark’s out of breath panting. She likes being held and caressed. She likes Quark being gentle with her. She holds his face and kisses him, encouraging him further. He moans into her mouth and slows down to a heavy drag, pushing all the way in and nearly all the way out.

She tries to lay down, but Quark stops her and pulls her further up, almost pinning her against the headboard. Now they were even closer, Quark shoves in harder, keeping them face to face and basically chest to chest. Odo feels him breathing against her face. His eye twitches, his grip gets tighter, his pace becomes repetitive and coordinated. Odo looks him in the eyes. Quark huffs and basically falls into her.

She holds him there and lets him finish. She can feel his heart racing while he tries to catch his breath. He’s still trying to push himself further in while groaning into her shoulder.   
“Sshhh… That nice?” She coos.  
Quark still wasn’t up. “Perfect. Everything. Best …” Quark continues to groan and breath deeply.  
Odo picks him up and puts him back on his side on the bed. She does her best to tuck him in. He looks sleepy so she turns the lights off. “Good night, Quark.” She waits until he’s breathing normally. The second she’s sure he’s asleep, she melts away, doing her best not to budge the quilts.

The next morning.   
Nog comes home. “Morning everyone.”  
“Morning.”  
“Did you need breakfast?”  
Nog nods and joins Quark at the table.

Odo stretches a few extra arms out. One is on the coffee machine, one is at the toaster, one is pouring a glass of juice for Nog and the other is stirring the newly poured coffee, leaving the first hand to hand a plate of toast to Nog.  
“Thank you Odo.” Nog starts rubbing some sort of home made paste on his toast.  
“Anything fun happen last night?” Odo says on the casual.  
Nog is still focused on his food. “Nothing much.”  
Quark gives her a look. Odo gives one back and hands Quark his toast. Odo has two arms again. Quark grins with all teeth on show. Odo smiles back and hands him his coffee.

Nog’s eyes jumped between the two of them. “You guys fucked, didn’t you?”  
“Yes”  
“No”  
Odo and Quark shot another face at each other.

Nog tries to change the subject. “Has anyone seen dad?”  
Odo didn’t move her eyes from Quark. “We still have that jar of dried beetles if you want to drop them by him.”  
Nog rammed the rest of his toast in his mouth and did as he was told. He did plan on going collecting later anyway.

The second Nog closed the garage door.  
“I think we need to talk.”  
Quark huffed. “About what? I am not apologising for honesty.”  
Odo leaned angrily on the counter. “Usually, I’d agree, but Nog doesn’t need to know that part.”  
“Odo, he’s an adult. He has a job and girlfriend of his own. He was gonna find out eventually and as far as we know, he’s already at it.”  
Odo shook the image out of her head. “Whether that's the case or not, I prefer that sort of information to stay in the bedroom where it belongs.” She suddenly looks sadder than before. Hurt almost.

Quark nods. “Okay. Well I doubt he’ll be asking any more questions now he knows, but while we’re on the subject, I think we need to talk about Julie.”  
Odo folded her arms and leaned on the counter. “What about her?”  
Quark whispered. “You read those magazines; Does contraception exist yet?”  
Odo thought back through her reading. “Condoms exist … That's it.”  
“Oh god.”  
“Nog’s smart enough to know what is and isn’t available.”  
“I hope.”  
“I’m sure.”  
“And she’s a smart girl-”  
“Exactly ….”  
The two of them stare at each other  
“We need to find out.”  
“Agreed”

In the garage.  
“And I offered to take this a little further- Nothing dangerous or weird- but she said we need to get married, but I don’t understand why being married would make her more ready. Then I thought about it, and realised she thinks I want a baby.” Nog continued to explain, sat in the cockpit. “So I was going to ask if I could use the replicator for something medical that doesn’t exist yet, and maybe we can get married later?”  
Rom slides out from under the console. His face is thinner. His clothes are the same as when he arrived and he’s filthy. “Can you hand me that conductor?”

Nog sighs and hands him the chunk of metal on the other seat. Rom disappears back under the console. Nog looks miserable. “You know you can’t hide in here forever right? Like you’re gonna need to see the rest of the house, or meet Julie, or shower.”  
“Uh huh.” Rom isn’t listening.  
Nog looks pissed now and gets up to use the replicator. He presses the buttons and a few lights flicker as his items appear.

Just before he leaves the ship, Nog turns back. “Oh, by the way, Odo and Quark are fucking now, so give them warning when you decided to leave your hovel.”  
Rom freezes up. He hears the door shut, but he realises he didn’t hear a word Nog said.


	4. Home sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odo decided to challenge 1940's misogeny. Quark decides to follow the rules of acquestion. Nog decides he's following teh american dream. Rom finally takes a shower.

Another month later.  
Rom pokes his head out from the garage into the kitchen. No Odo. No Quark. No Nog. He quietly wanders around the house as if he doesn’t live here. He picks up one of Odo’s magazines and puts it back down right where he found it. He finds some knitting and puts it right back where he found it. He finds Nog’s room. It's immaculate. His bed is still ready made for him. It makes him sad to think that Nog is still waiting for him.

Rom finds the bathroom. The set up is the same as on DS9. The difference is trying to make the shower work. There is also no recycler for his clothes. There is a basket with crumpled clothes in it. Rom is slowly trying to work out how this all works. 

Meanwhile, Quark walks right past the guys at work, straight into his new office. Most of the guys are happy for him, as he just made his way to the top of advertising and distribution. A few of the team are not so happy, but Quark has a plan to use them to his advantage, the Ferengi way.  
“Fred? You got a minute?” He nods the man over.

In his new office, Quark leans back. “I couldn’t help but notice you’ve not spoken to me since the promotion.”  
Fred remains quiet.  
“You wanna tell me what I’ve done?”  
Fred reaches for his cigarettes. Quark sighs. He hates these things. “I’ll tell ye what the problem is. The problem being that you foreigners just walk in and get all the good jobs, while suckers like me don’t get a paddle on shit creek.” He starts smoking.  
Quark looks annoyed at the smoke filling his room. “I appreciate your honesty, even if it's brutal. The world could do with more men with ambition like yours. So much so, I’m willing to put that drive to the test.”

The man gives Quark a look of disgust.  
Quark grins and continues. “I want research to make my job easier, and in turn, I’ll make your job easier. Imagine, you show the boss that you can outshine your current task, he notices I do my job better with folks like you following my instruction. What does he do for you?”  
Fred blows smoke at the desk. “He puts me in your department.”  
“A department with more money being pumped into it. Without contribution, he loses more money than we were earning. So what do you say? You wanna be my field researcher?”  
Fred nods. “Suddenly you orange freaks ain't so different.”  
“I’ll take that as a yes. I’ll file ya the work while the boss ain’t lookin’ eh?”  
Fred smiles and nods.

Quark follows Fred out of his room and spots another one of his new enemies. “Joanne? You got a minute?”

Once again, She sat down with a face like thunder.   
Quark gave her puppy dog eyes. “And here I was thinking we were friends.What’s changed your mind?”   
She scoffed at him. “If you want the honest answer SIR, I don’t see what makes you more qualified to decide where our papers are sold, than anyone else.”  
Quark had her right where he wanted her. “What if I told you, I was building a team of competent workers. Workers who might be more … educated in subjects that I am lacking. Subjects that might pay handsomely for those who have such information.”  
She was listening now.

Quark continued to put his plan into place. One member of staff at a time.

Meanwhile. Odo walked the streets with one of her male co-workers. They spend most of the walk in silence, but Odo is fine with that. She never walked with deputies on the promenade, but then she wasn’t a female deputy in 1940’s Earth. When they do speak it is in regards to sketchy characters or local news.

They spot Harry and Barb. Odo gives them a friendly wave. They wave back.  
“Pft. Women driving, eh. You know she can drive?” Her deputy laughed.  
Odo takes offence. “And what’s wrong with that?”  
He smiles confidently. “Well it's common knowledge that a woman's brain simply isn’t as big as a mans. Why should she concern herself with driving when she has a family to concern herself with?”  
Odo is sad to say the first thing that came to mind was Quark opinions of women. “Well if that were true, why can’t you drive?”  
“I didn’t have to cash in my wife's life insurance. That's why.”  
Odo is even more pissed off. Now she HAS to learn to drive. She might follow Nog to the woods and so some shapeshifting to blow some steam before she turns this guys face inside out.

Meanwhile, Nog is drawing up some new plans. He’s been given the specifications and design elements. All he has to do is decide the layout of each room and show the boss an estimate for material costs.   
He runs the latest by his superior who nods and approves them. Nog stands proudly before him.  
“You got a family to support there, junior?”  
“Not yet, sir.”  
A large man behind a desk littered with paper nods back. “You trying to save for one?”  
“If she’ll have me.” Asking her to marry him wasn’t the only thing on Nog’s mind.  
“Take it from me kid, if you get the opportunity to get the hell outta here and make it to the city, they won’t even notice your ears with work like this.”

Nog looks down at his suit for a split second. “You think so?”  
“I ain’t never seen anyone with measurements as perfect and space efficient as these. I wish I could give ya something more challenging to work with.” He stands and approaches Nog. “Like I said; If you wanna bring in the dough for a lady you’re trying to impress, for a family you want the best for, you gotta go where your talent will be appreciated. Good job, son.” He pats Nog as he waddles by.

Suddenly Nog is a lot more optimistic. 

Meanwhile. Rom has finally ventured into the garden. Looks like Odo has domain here too. The flowers are colour and height organised. The flower beds are in exact measurements. The stones that make up the path are perfectly aligned. 

“Hey there little fella.” A woman calls.  
Rom spins to see a middle aged woman hanging over the fence. “Hello?”  
She waves him over. “I don’t think I’ve met you yet. Are you Nog’s father?”  
Rom nods nervously.  
“Well it's so good to finally see the man himself. Was starting to think you don’t exist.” She laughs to herself.  
Rom is confused and starts shrinking away.   
She notices his fear. “I understand. You wanna be left alone. Once I get this darn mower working again, I’ll leave ya be.”  
“Mower?”  
She looked as confused as he did.

“You not got grass where you’re from?”  
Rom shook his head. He decides to walk right up to the fence and peak at the mystery object.  
“Oh. Well, the mower cuts the grass for me, but I can’t get it to start. I can’t see nothing wrong with it and the boys are outta town for another week.”  
Rom doesn't know who the boys are, or why this woman wants her grass cut, but he thinks he can fix it. It’s basic mechanics. “Ur … Mind if I take a look at it?”  
She smiles. “Of course. Listen, if it's beyond repair, I understand.”

It’s freaking Rom out how much this woman reminds him of Moogie. She's confident but kind. “Moogie may have raised an idiot, but she didn’t raise a quitter. I’ll get my tools.”  
Before Rom falls back over the fence, she calls out to him once more. “Hey … Don’t doubt yourself for trying. Being a failure is more impressive than a quitter, let me tell ya.”  
Rom blushes and rushes in to get his 20th century tools.

*  
A week later

Quark came home from work. He knows Rom is visiting the neighbour, again, and Nog is with Julie, again.

“Honey, I’m home.”  
“I’m making that egg thing you like.” Quark stopped in his tracks. Odo’s voice was male.  
Quark peeked around the corner. “Odo, why are you …” Quark waved his arms in Odo’s direction.  
Odo looked back at him. He was wearing his old uniform and an apron. “I did some shapeshifting and felt like being a man for a few hours.”  
Quark looked panicked. “Well you need to go back. What if one of your coworkers drops by or Nog invites Julie over.”  
Odo folded his arms. “Then I’ll switch back.”  
Quark grunts frustrated. “Odo, I’d prefer you not put us at risk like that. You know I don’t mind you shifting, but if someone catches you looking like that-”  
“This is because we made love isn’t it?” Odo is crossed between angry and upset.

Quark stormed right up to him, grabbed the side of his face and pulled him down into a fierce kiss. Odo nearly fell over with the force of Quark pulling him down to his level.

Quark lets go, but keeps his face to his own. “Odo, I’d fall into bed with you as a man, a woman, neither or both. I don’t care what you look like and I care even less about how you shapeshift in private, but I am paranoid that one of our many friends will walk right on in and catch me with some guy who resembles a striking similarity to the Odo they know.”

Odo waited a minute then gave in.

Quark let him go as he lost shape and reformed as herself.   
“I’m sorry. I think I might be feeling a little homesick.”  
Quark held her hand. “I wish you’d tell me these things. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. You’ve done everything you can to accommodate the rest of us and here I am dictating-”  
“No no, you made a solid point. I - I wouldn’t want to put anyone at risk.” Odo looked at the floor.

Quark thumbed over the back of Odo’s hand. “Well … We have the house to ourselves …”  
Odo looked up curiously.  
Quark licked his lips. “I can think of somewhere you can be a guy where no one but myself will know …”  
Odo’s eye brows went up. “Oh.”  
“I mean if you wanted to. I’m gonna push you if you’re not interested.”  
Odo held his face. “I’m a shapeshifter not a monster.” She kissed him on the head.  
“You can be both for all care.” He kissed her back.  
Odo growled back playfully.  
Quark gave a predatory grin back.  
“Go upstairs.”  
“Yes ma’am.”


	5. The true meaning of Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The whole family explore christmas eve respectively

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Food, booze, oral sex and christmas movies esue

Many months later.  
Rom took a deep breath in the mirror. Quark handed him his coat. “Well I think it's lovely you’re spending christmas with our elderly neighbours. Just remember what Nog said about christmas being about family and consumption.”  
Nog ran over and handed Rom the gift he helped wrap for him. “It's not consumption, Quark, it's about giving and receiving. It's about getting to know who’s important to you through some sort of religious celebration.”  
Rom shook with happiness. “I’m just honoured to be invited over for such an occasion.”  
Odo stepped behind Quark and held his shoulders. “And we are very happy you’ve been considered family. Nog will be meeting Julie’s family and myself and Quark have been invited to a party.”  
Quark tipped his head up and peaked Odo on the face. “It’ll be nice to have the house to ourselves.”  
Nog made a sick face. Rom was still shaking with the present in his hand.

Later.  
Nog took a duffle bag of clothes and gifts over. Julie's aunt opened the door and welcomed him in happily.  
“Is this your first christmas?”  
Nog followed her into the kitchen. “It is, ma’am.”  
She poured him a drink. “Then I should fill you in on certain traditions-”  
Nog got excited. “I’ve read all about the history of the celebration. Gifts and turkey and snow and saint Nick and mistletoe.”  
She laughed along. “I’m happy to see you so enthusiastic, but I feel like you never truly understand it, until you’ve been part of it.” She hands Nog the drink.  
“What is it?”  
“Eggnog.”  
There is a moment of silence before they both start laughing.

“Oh, like my name.”  
She laughs. “I wanted to make the joke before anyone else did. Welcome to the family, Nog.”  
“Glad to be here, but where’s Julie?”  
“She’ll be down shortly. She has a present for you too.”  
Nog was ready to burst. He’s kept his gift a secret for weeks. Why does celebrating have to a Klingon torture ritual?

Meanwhile  
Rom knocks on Margaret’s door. She answers with her usual vigor. “Rom, sweetheart, get in here.” Rom couldn’t contain his excitement.  
The bungalow itself was quite bland. It had pictures of different people at different ages across the wall and everything was quite soft. Rom didn’t think she was old enough for all this but by the looks of things, she’s settled into quite a simple, quiet life alone.

The christmas decorations were what Rom was really focused on. A traditional tree, all decorated with shiny things and candles. There was a bowl of candy on the table. There were shiny things hanging in the windows, off the ceiling, on her clothes. Rom almost forgot where he was.

“Oh, I forgot.” He presents the gift in his hands outstretched to her. “Merry christmas.”  
“Oh Rom, you shouldn’t have.” She took the small box from him. “I’m going to put it under the tree with your gift, okay?”  
He nods. He can’t believe she’s letting him be part of such a big event.  
“You got christmas where you’re from?”  
Rom thought back through some of the traditions and celebrations he, the Cardassians, Bajorans and other races on the station partake in. “Nothing like this.”  
“Oh. Well you’ll have to share some stories with me tonight.” She shuffled over to the kitchen. “Do you drink?”  
“No alcohol. And I can’t handle anything too sweet.”  
“Huh. Tricky.”  
Rom backtracked. “I- I can handle alcohol easier than sugar though.”  
She laughed. “I’ll make a snowball. I was thinking we should have a chat, then we watch a few christmas movies, huh?”  
“That sounds nice.”  
She came back with a drink and cheersed with him.

Meanwhile  
Odo had decided to spend her time getting ready at Barbs. They’d meet up with Quark later and head out to the party together. Odo promised Barb they’d leave nice and early for Harry’s sake. She also wants Quark outta there before he gets hammered and starts reciting rules of acquisition or something.

“I can’t tell ya how long its been since I’ve been to a party.” Barb says putting her earrings in.  
Odo is getting Harry dressed. “Arms up. Then please take the opportunity to enjoy yourself. I’m not drinking so I can watch Harry while you socialise.”  
She laughs. “I’ve heard that one before.”  
Odo wriggles the child's shirt on. “I have an alcohol intolerance. Even if I do drink, it won’t get me drunk.”  
“Oof, sounds like a blessing and a curse.”  
“Tell me about it.”  
They both giggle.

Meanwhile. Quark is dressed and ready. Still got an hour or two before the party. What do Humans do to waste time? He looks around the room. Odo’s knitting, magazines, Nog’s art equipment, cooking supplies and so on. He wanders out into the garden. It's not snowed yet but it's still cold.

He can see over the fence into Maragret’s house. He spots her TV.  
“I want one of those.”  
Quark continues to grumble around the house.  
Out of sheer boredom he decided to run through the house's finance bills. Most of it is water bills and Odo’s shopping expenses. Half the food in the house is caught by Nog and the rest is just cupboard filler.   
“I need a hobby.”

Meanwhile  
Nog is enjoying family gatherings. All the old people are full of wild stories. The young children are an absolute blast to play with. The young adults are all optimistic. The best part is Julie. She’s moved to her aunts while her mother deals with post war business. Nog thinks her dad died and her mother isn’t coping. 

The whole family is free to talk to anyone and Nog is family now. He feels like part of the furniture as they say. He might also be a little wobbly from the eggnog, but he’s still happy to be here.  
“Nog, can you collect the biscuits from the cupboard?” The aunt calls out.  
Nog rushes up to do as he’s asked, but from the other side of the kitchen door, Julie is already holding the tray with biscuits.

They both freeze up, staring each other in the eyes.  
Julie's eyes glance up for a split second. Nog follows then blind panic. It's mistletoe.  
She waits. Maybe she wants him to move. Maybe she wants him to kiss her. He glances back to her family all watching and waiting.   
Nog makes his decision. He loves her and he wants them to know he’s serious. He pounces forward and kisses her.

He’s damn sure he just heard someone whistling. 

They part and stare for just a little longer.  
“Excuse me.”  
Nog jumps out of the way. “Sorry.”  
She smiles. “No sorry necessary.” She walks by.  
Nog smiles to himself.

Meanwhile Rom is crying, sitting on the floor as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ ends.  
“Aw.. it's alright.” She comforts him.  
“I don’t usually cry at holo- I mean, movies.”  
“Shall we watch a less impactful one?   
Rom wipes his eyes. “What's it about?”  
“Do you know who Santa Claus is?”  
Rom struggles. “Nog showed me this. I should know it.”  
She holds his shoulder. “There's a story about a man in red, with a big white beard, who brings childrens gifts through the chimney.”  
Rom looks at her chiney. “How?”  
“Magic.”  
“Where does he get the gifts?”  
“His elves make them.”  
“Where?”  
“The north pole.”  
Rom looks even more confused.   
She laughs. “How about Miracle on 34th street?”  
“Okay” He squinted and smiled.

Meanwhile.  
Odo, Barb, Quark and Harry make it to the party. They are invited in and Quark immediately starts pouring everyone's punch. Odo takes Harry from Barb's arms and lets her go mingle. Harry makes some noises that may have been words at Odo, but Odo has no idea what he said. Harry struggles and Odo puts him down. Harry takes Odo’s hand and walks them around the house. Odo is happy to let him lead the way. 

Barb collects a drink from Quark.  
“You know, I used to be a bartender.”  
Barb cocks her head. “Oh?”  
“Yeah, watch this.” Quark downs the glass and starts throwing it around like a child's thing.  
Barb giggles as Quark gets cocky with the glass. Throwing up, spinning and catching it again.  
“You oughta see what I can do with a Kanar bottle.”  
“A what?”  
“It's a long twisted thing. Looks like a sex toy from a distance.”  
Barb snorted a laugh out.  
Quark smiles along.

“Quark!” A friendly voice calls out.  
“Fred! What are you doing here?”  
He shakes his hand. “I got invited by Susan.”  
“Of course. I forget you know each other. May I introduce Barb. Barbra, this is Fred. A good work pal of mine.”  
Barb offers her hand. Fred takes it and kisses. Barb blushes.  
“She don’t get out much. Couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather take her.”  
Fred looks back to Quark. “Where’s Odo?”  
“She’s on baby duty until 9.”  
Barb jumps in. “My son, Harry. His father was taken in the war.”  
Fred changes expression fast. “Oh I’m so sorry.”  
“Oh it's okay. We’re getting by.”  
“Well if you ever need anything, you got another ally over here.” He nods and leaves Quark and Barb to drink.  
Quark smiles and raises his eyebrows at her. She blushes harder into her shoulders.

Much later, Nog gets ready for bed in Julie's room. Her aunt is having the entire family over to sleep so they “have” to share rooms. Nog doesn’t look when she gets undressed, but he doesn’t mind if she looks. Nothing to see anyway. She tucks herself under the sheets while he gets changed.   
He looks over his bare shoulder. “What?” He asks playfully.  
She laughs. “Nothing.”  
“Seriously, what’s making you smile?”  
She laughs again. “It doesn’t matter.”  
He slides his pajama shirt on. “Fine don’t tell me.”  
“Why don’t you have any body hair?”  
Nog buttons himself up. “I might have ear hair when my third set comes in.”  
She laughs. “What does that mean?”  
“It means I’ll be old.”  
She laughs again.

He climbs into bed with her and kisses her good night.   
They lay facing each other.  
He steals a kiss. She takes one back. He pulls her closer and starts another. She giggles and shuffles even closer.  
She whispers “Do you think they approve?”  
He tries to whisper back. “I sure hope so. I got plans for us, you know. A big future for us and our family.”  
She strokes down the side of his ear. “I trust you Nog. It's other people I don’t trust. What if they treat you differently?”  
He holds her hands in his own. “Different doesn’t mean bad. I AM different, and as long as you’re okay with that, I’m happy.”

She takes his mouth back. He holds her hip and snogs her hard. She opens her mouth, he takes the hint and plays long. She starts breathing heavier, pressing herself against him.   
He laughs. “You want me to kiss somewhere else?”  
She laughs back. “Like where?” She cocks her head back.  
He kisses her neck and lets his hand drift down her thigh. “I had a few ideas.”  
She suddenly sounds a lot less willing. “Oh Nog, no. We’re not married.”  
“It's not sex. I mean, not like, actaual sex. But it won’t get you pregnant or anything. I just thought you might want some .. release.”

She pulls back slightly.   
“Right. I get it.” Nog starts again. “We can wait.” He lets go of her.  
She grabs his hands again. “No, I just …” She looks around frantically. “What do I have to do? Will it hurt?”  
Nog frantically shakes his head. “No. You don’t have to do anything. Just tell me if something doesn’t feel right.” He turns to face her properly again. “Or even better, tell me if I can do it better.”  
She hesitates. “Are you sure you wanna do this?”  
“Of course. I want you to feel good.”  
“Did you want something or-”  
“No no. I’m not doing this because I want something. I’m asking because I want you to have something.”  
She smiles. “You’re a sweet talker, you know that?”  
He smiles back. “I try.” He kisses her neck and kisses her chest and falls further and further under the sheet.

Elsewhere, Quark is fucking hammered. 

Odo is in the garden, cuddling a very sleepy Harry. The poor boy is up way past his bedtime. He’s done his best to play and eat the snacks available, but there's only so much a toddler can take. Odo can hear Quark telling a story extra loudly because he’s drunk. Barbra has checked up on him every now and then, but she keeps shooing her back into the party.

When 9 does strike, Odo collects Barb and hands Harry back to her. Odo then linches Quark from atop a table with a bottle in each hand and drags him out.  
“Naw, spoil sport.” He cries as Odo marches him home.

Barb thanks Odo one last time for being such a friend and they wave her off.

Quark basically falls through the door. On the floor he slurs the words. “I love christmas.”  
Odo picks him up. “It’s only christmas eve.”  
“‘N’ I’m not gonna remember any of it.” He grins to himself.

Odo finally puts him on the bed and helps him change. He doesn’t drink often but when he does, he’s a menace. Odo just prays he doesn’t pick up smoking or some other bad Human habit.  
“Odo, get over here.”  
Odo is kneeling on the floor trying to remove his trousers.  
Quark bucks his hips and bites his lip.  
“Is that supposed to be some sort of invitation?”  
“Yeah, you’re invited to my…” Quark passes out.  
Odo rolls her eyes and continues to dress him for bed.

Meanwhile. Rom is quite happily laid out in a rudimentary sleeping bag in front of the fire.  
“And that's when Santa noticed Rudolph's bright red nose. He said ‘Rudolph with your nose so bright, will you guide my sleigh tonight?’.”  
Rom listened tentatively. “But the other reindeer hate him.”  
Margsret continued. “Ah yes, but without Rudolph's special gift, christmas will be canceled. Rudolph put all those years of torment behind him and stood at the front of the line. Santa called out ‘On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen …”  
Rom quietly fell asleep to the sound of her voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get the idea.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big developments and fluff

Many months on. 

Rom is looking considerably healthier. He goes over to Margaret's house everyday, just to help with household tasks or go shopping. Basic stuff he can do and she needs help with.   
Odo has learned to drive. With all the reading he does, it wasn’t going to take long. 

Meanwhile.  
Quark has made some decisions about his company's paper distribution.  
His boss runs by his office to see Quark looking befuddled at a spread sheet.  
“Everything alright in here, Smith?”  
Quark takes the pencil out of his mouth. “Unfortunately not, sir. You got a minute?”  
The man comes in and takes a seat.   
“You know Fred?”  
He frowns.  
Quark continues. “Well he went out of his way the other day to bring me some fantastic information. You see this chart?”  
He looks at it.  
“You can clearly see our demographic here and what they want in Kansas.”  
“What's the problem?”  
Quark scoff “Nothing. I’d say this information is worthless … If it weren’t for Joanne, who also took it upon herself to bring me data concerning our demographic in Nebraska.” Quark sighs and nonchalantly slams the paper down. “As you can see, our audience is split. We please one, we disappoint the other.” He sighs and looks away.

His boss furrows his brow. “Well, I put you in charge of distribution, Smith, I expect results.”  
Quark plays dumb. “Well, I had some ideas, but I gotta warn ya, they’re a little drastic.”  
“Spit it out man.”  
Quark takes a seat and pulls up some plans. “I say we split the company up and pander to each demographic specifically, taking up all the whole monopoly on the paper industry.”  
The man looks furious. “What?”  
“See what I mean. Shouldn’t have said anything.”  
“No no, I see your proposal and how it would benefit us, but do you have any idea how expensive, how risky this endeavour would be?”  
Quark pulls his wrists together. “I see your argument, but I have another risky solution.”  
“Go on.”

“I say we put each of our researchers incharge of their own findings. Fred for example, found out what the people of Kansas really want, based on their age groups and standard of living. Joanne did the same thing for Nebraska. If they know what’s best for our customers, I say we put them to the test. Lets see who deserves that kind of income, and learn from the mistakes of the others.”  
His boss takes that in. “You make a good pitch.”  
“Thank you, sir.”  
“But someones gotta take the fall for this operation hitting the wall.”  
Quark raises his hand. “My success is the company's success.”  
“I want a financial proposition by next week. Pick your team mates wisely.”  
Quark grins to himself.

Later that day.  
Family meeting. Quark starts. “Everyone, my plan is on the up and out. Soon, I’ll be running my own piece of the paper company with no one to oppose me.”  
Odo went next. “I will be the first in my department to have a driving license and might be the first officer with a police car.”  
Rom went next. “Marget wants me to meet her sons. She wants them to know she’s well looked after and she’s grateful for myself, as I am with her.” Odo holds his shoulder proudly.  
Nog announced his news. “I’m getting married.”  
“What?!”  
“Mazel Tov.”  
“AGHHH!”

“She said yes. We’ve already started looking for somewhere to live. Her father approved it.”  
Odo is unphased. “Very traditional, Nog.”  
Quark put his hands on the side of his head. “Odo, are you not listening?”  
“Oh, I’m listening. I just don’t see a problem with it.”  
Rom faints. Nog rushes over to help him.  
Quark continues his case. “The timeline for one! We can’t have the records say that this woman married an alien, Odo.”  
“He’s not an alien, he’s Hungarian as far as any records will say.”   
“What about their kids?”  
“We don’t even know if it’ll happen.”  
“What if it does?”  
“If no one cares about your lobes now, what makes you think they’ll care about your grandchildrens?”  
Quark grunts. “What about her lineage, Odo. Her family line will have Ferengi in it forever.”  
Odo shrugs. “And?”  
Quark’s mouth falls open.

“Guys, maybe we send dad to the hospital?” Nog says from the floor.  
“Like hell you do. That place costs a fortune. I’ll go get a tricorder.”

*

Quark and Odo were doing date night.   
They comfortably sway in the middle of the living room, all the furniture pushed out of the way and the radio turned down nice and low.   
Nog playing chef in the kitchen. He claims he wants practice just in case Julie decided to work, leaving him a house husband with no life skills.  
Rom is still at Margarets. He’s become her pet. Company that can make a cup of coffee and listen when she wants to talk.

Quark holds Odo’s hip and hand. “Who’d have guessed this would be us a few years ago.”  
Odo holds Quarks shoulder and hand. “Who’d have thought this would be us a few weeks ago.”  
Quark laughed and continued to sway with her. “So much has changed, and yet, we’re kinda the same.”  
Odo nods. “The elements of our lives we disliked are no longer a barrier.”  
“I kinda miss some elements of our old lives.”  
He spins Odo around. “Such as?” She says.  
Quark shrugs. “Padds. Tablets. Holosuites.”  
Odo scoffs. “Technology?”  
Quark smiles back up at her. “Then what do you miss?”  
Odo looks away. “Certain people.”  
Quark looks away with her. “Yeah. I’m sorry about Kira.”

Odo says it playfully, but the look in her eyes says otherwise. “Who said anything about Kira?”  
Quark showed her some sincerity. “I know how you felt about her. I’m sorry I got us all stuck here. I knew better than to carry dangerous substances but I did it anyway.”  
Odo held his face. “Considering you should be dead, I’d say this is a pretty good alternative.”  
Quark shrugged. “Or I could have just stuck to the law and kept everyone safe.”  
Odo rolled her eyes. “Oh how many years have I been telling you to do that?”  
Quark giggled back. “Well, atleast I get to spend the rest of my days with my nearest and dearest, huh?”  
Odo giggled. “That’s a lot of days.”  
Quark brought them face to face. “Good.”

Nog called from the kitchen. “Dinner is served.”  
Quark and Odo laughed as they sat at the very well laid table.  
Nog spoke in an exaggerated french accent. “‘Ello Sir, Madam. Today, I ‘ave prepared two courses.” Odo and Quark continued to giggle. Nog brings over two plates covered by metal semispheres. “For ze man ov the house; oyster tagliatelle.”  
“Thank you, Chef.”  
“And for ze special lady; Nothing.” He presents her an empty plate.  
“My favourite. How did you know?” Odo says faux sarcastically.  
Quark is still giggling.  
Nog continues the act. “A magician never reveals his secrets.”  
Quark can’t contain himself. Odo holds the laughter back.

Nog continues. “Can I offer ze couple a drink?”  
“Go for it.” Quark blurts out.  
Nog produces a bottle of wine and leaves the top on to pour Odo an imaginary drink, then takes the top off to actually pour Quark a drink. Quark and Odo are still laughing.  
Quark lifts his glass. Odo follows and clinks their glasses together.  
“If zere is anything else I can do for you, pleez, do not ‘esitate to ask.”  
“Thank you chef.”  
Nog backs up into the garage.

Quark and Odo are still giving each other knowing looks. Odo picks up her fork and starts eating her imaginary food. Quark also digs in.  
“Good?”  
Quark nods. “Very. I wish it was still kicking, but I’m not sure Julie would agree.”  
Odo nodded.

Meanwhile, Nog listens from the garage. He’s been thinking about this for a while, but he’s finally made his decision. “Guys, I’m going out, okay?”  
Quark replies, “As long as you’re back to wash up.”  
Nog smiles. “Will do.”

Nog calls for Julie and asks if they can go for a really long walk. Somewhere quiet and out of the way. She gets her coat and holds his hand as they walk into a part of the woods where travelers get lost.

“Julie, I feel like we need to talk before we get married.” He sat them on a fallen tree. The only other sound's the wind, which wasn’t heavy enough to blow the fallen leaves.  
She raised her hand. “Don’t say things like that. You’re scaring me.”  
“Oh I didn’t mean to scare you, but we’re still young and I don’t want you to be with me just because I’m here. Like, I want you to know that like all people, I have flaws and I’m not perfect.”  
She smiled warmly. “I know that, and I love you anyway.”  
He dug his feet into the dry dirt. “But there's some stuff that I want you to know now, just in case you change your mind.”  
She covered her mouth. “Have- Have you changed your mind?”  
“NO. No. I just want the best for you, and I want you to know exactly what your investing in, before you sign that contract.”  
She shook her head. “What?”

Nog took a deep breath. “So for example, lets say, children are out of the equation?”  
“We could adopt? Or surrogate.”  
He relaxed. “That is such a good idea.”  
She smiled at the compliment.  
He continued. “Lets say, my side of the family, have an unusual diet, or strange habits?”  
“How strange?”  
He shuffled. “Let's say we eat bugs, or need to chew regularly to keep our teeth sharp. Lets say, the ears are actually an erogenous zone. Let's say I don’t have nipples. Let’s say my toenails are the same colours as my finger nails. Lets say-”  
“Nog, calm down. I can live with all of those. I’m a little concerned about the bug thing, but all of those are fine.”

Nog takes a deep breath. “Lets say I have technology that shouldn’t exist yet.”  
She looks confused. “Huh?”  
Nog sinks into his shoulders. “Lets say, where I’m from, the reason people are so accepting is because we have nothing left to fight over. Necessities are free. Alcohol comes without alcohol. Medical supplies work like magic. But we can’t tell anyone.” He pleads with her.  
She rests her head on his shoulder and smiles. “Then I hope our little secrets will benefit our family, Nog.”

He finally calms down. Her naivety in the situation is heartwarming. She just wants the best for her family, and she’s decided he is the best, regardless of future technology or his Ferengi DNA.

He holds her back. “Thank you, Julie. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”  
She smiles and nuzzles him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end is near


	7. I thought you'd never ask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for weird sex and crying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its a long one I know, but its what you're all here for.

Another month

Saturday. Quark booked a day off while his boss decides how to split the company, and where to put him. Odo has the day off as she works part time. Rom is next door. Nog has been called off for an interview with a much bigger construction company looking for an architect.

Quark sits with his feet up in front of his brand new TV, slippers on, beer by his side, a newspaper and wearing a V neck sweater. Odo brings cookies in. Quark smiles and takes one.  
“What’s in them?”  
“I picked a recipe with no sugar. It's mostly oats and seeds.”  
Quark takes a bite.  
“I also replaced the chocolate chips with the last of the crickets Nog brought home.”  
“Ah. That would explain that.” Quark twists his mouth to get the bug bits out his teeth.

Odo sits down and picks her knitting back up.   
Quark relaxes back into his seat. “You think we’re ever going home?”  
“We are home, Quark.”  
He smiles. “You know what I mean. You think I’ll ever fly a ship, or get punched by a Klingon?”  
Odo shrugs. “I might.”  
“Huh?”  
“I’m immortal. Might just wait out the next few hundred years and walk back to DS9 on the date we all went missing.”  
Quark snorts. “You think anyone would notice?”  
“I might be able to get faces right by then.”  
Quark laughs again.

There's a knock at the door.   
“I’ll get it.” Odo said, giving him a kiss on the head and standing to answer the door. It's probably Barb or one of the other officers.

On the other side of the door, stands two men in black coats and hats. Odo’s face dropped. “Can I help you?”  
One of the men spoke. “Odo’ital?”  
“Oh no.”  
“Can we come in?”  
Odo panicked slightly. “I suppose so.” She lets them in.

Around the table, Odo has shifted back to male. Quark sits on the other side shamefully. Nog looks furious and Rom is on the verge of crying.  
“What did we do?” Quark starts with.  
One of the men pulls a padd out. “I’ll go through the list. Rom here used Ferengi and federation technology to keep the neighbour alive for another 30 years-”  
Everyone looks at Rom.  
“Nog started a small family, who introduced Humanity to Ferengi hundreds of years before first contact.”  
Nog remains angry.  
“Quark accidentally made himself the wolf of wall street in newspapers!”  
“Pft. Accidental.”  
Odo kicks him under the table.

“Well what about Odo?” Nog reminds everyone.  
One of the men fakes coughs. “We were getting to that-”  
“Take your time.” Quark mumbles. Odo kicks him again.  
“Odo managed to live on this planet until Humans finally colonised Mars and started several identities over the course of 400 years before making it back to 2372. Once there, he .. and I quote “Lost his marbles.” Kira reports him speaking in riddles about grief and loss before claiming that he wants to go back to the link.”

Everyone looks at Odo. Odo taps his fingers on the table. Quark softens up and reaches over the table to hold his hand.

Nog coughs up next. “How many kids did I have?”  
“That information is classified.”  
Nog huffs and collapses back into his chair. “So what happens to us now? Or is that ‘classified’ too?”  
“No, we can tell you that. This timeline will be completely erased and you will wake up 9 months ago, having Rom’s plan to fly into the mushroom cloud worked.”  
Quark squeezed Odo’s hand. “But we won’t remember any of this.”  
“Thats right.”  
Nog flipped out. “That’s bull shit! What am I supposed to tell Julie?!”  
“Julie won’t ever have met you. The life she was meant to lead without you will continue.”

Rom finally chimed in. “When will we stop existing?”  
One of the men produced a button. “Whenever you’re ready.”  
“NO!” the whole family cried out.  
“I got a few things I wanna tie up.” Quark said in full blown panic.  
“I wanna spend my last day with Julie.”  
“I need to see Barbra.”  
“I want to spend time with Margaret.”

The men sighed. “Fine, you’ve got until midnight, then we’re pressing the button, ready or not.”  
Odo checks “And this version of ourselves won’t exist?”  
“Thats right?”  
“So we can do anything with no consequences?”  
“Basically”  
Odo froze. Quark jumped in. “Odo, don’t do anything drastic.”  
“Try and stop me.” Odo shifted in the blink of an eye and flew out the window.  
“Shit!”   
Rom grabbed Quark's arm to stop him chasing after him. Quark fell back into his seat.

“Well since none of this will matter, I just want to take the opportunity to tell both of you how much I hate Ferengi culture and how I tried to join starfleet out of pure spite. Neither of you should have been left in charge of a child during the occupation and I couldn’t wait to get the hell away from both of you.” Nog stood up. “And on that note, I’m going to spend time with my fiance.” Nog went through the Garage door.

Quark sat staring at the table. Rom awkwardly smiled at the Federation investigators. “We’ll make our own way out.”

Meanwhile.  
Odo arrived at Barb's door. She answered. “Odo. What are you doing here?”  
Odo could answer with a million things, but the sound of her voice was different. Odo pulled her eyebrows together. “Are you in the middle of something?”  
“Oh, no. But Fred dropped by for a quick visit. Did you want to come in?”  
Odo was torn between abandonment and happy for her. “No. I just thought I’d see how you were coping.”  
“I’m fine, Odo. Are you okay?”  
Odo shook. “I’m doing fine. Call on me if you need anything, okay?”  
“Of course I will.”  
Odo nodded and took her leave.  
She doesn’t need her anymore.

Meanwhile.  
Nog knocked on Julie's aunt's door. She happily let him back in. 

Julie ran up to him. “Nog, are you alright?”  
Nog lied through his teeth. “I am perfect, so perfect, I was thinking we spend the whole day together and make it even more perfect.”  
“Oh.” She smiled. “I suppose that would be nice. Where are we going?”  
“I was thinking we have ourselves a little engagement celebration. Anything you want, today, it's on me.”  
She giggled. “Anything huh? What's gotten into you?”  
“Just feeling extra generous toward my future bride.” He kissed her on the cheek and led her out of the house.

Meanwhile  
Rom sat by Margaret by the fire, in front of the TV. She was content and Rom had a good poker face, but all he could think about how he tried to save her. What is this woman suffering from? She’s not old, her mind is in full working order, she has a young healthy family. He doesn’t want to think about the potential future. One where he isn’t here to save her. He doesn’t want her to be alone.

She looks over to see him contemplating. She smiles. “My special friend.” She offers him her hand. He takes it. She relaxes and turns back to the TV.  
What does she mean special? Does she mean like a carer? He doesn’t do anything extraordinary. Does she mean their relationship? Nothing special there.

Rom frowns to himself. Does she mean special needs?

He thinks about when she met him. He was wearing ill fitting clothes. He was confused and hidden away. He was underweight. He looked like an abused animal. She’s probably heard Quark call him an idiot and assumed they hid him away on purpose.

He thinks about telling her the truth. There would be no harm in explaining he’s from space and it's his fault his family are stuck here … but then he sees her calm and comfortable. Why throw a spanner in the works? It's better this way.

Meanwhile  
Quark is asking everyone they know if they’ve seen Odo. Barb says she dropped by and then left. Quark has given up looking for a person and has started talking to objects. He probably looks like a crazy person. If Odo is going to make a show of playing hide and seek, Quark thinks about making a show of finding him. 

Quark sighs. If Odo is hiding the only way to make him come out is to give him what he wants. Quark is obviously not what he wants right now. Quark perks back up. Unless that's the point.  
“ODO, IF YOU’RE LISTENING, PLEASE COME HOME.”   
People start giving Quark worrying looks.  
“I KNOW I SCREWED UP. I KNOW YOU’RE SCARED. I’M SORRY THINGS DIDN’T GO SO WELL.”  
People are watching and paying careful attention to him.  
“THIS TIME WE’VE SPENT TOGETHER … HAS IT MEANT AS MUCH TO YOU AS IT HAS TO ME?”  
The small crowd is watching him call to absolutely no one.  
“I guess not.” Quark gives up. Some people on the street think about coming to his aid, but none are brave enough.

If he were Odo, where would he go?  
Quark snaps his fingers.

Meanwhile in the woods.  
Odo stands on the edge of a branch at the top of a huge red wood. He turns to face the tree and slowly leans backward, eventually falling off completely.  
In mid air, he shifts and catches himself as a bird, swooping close to the ground but missing at high speed. The bird once again changes, to a squirrel running on all fours. It runs up the tree.   
The squirrel spins upside down on a branch and shifts again into a bat, which falls off the branch and flies off.

“ODO! ODO YOU SON OF A BITCH, WHERE ARE YOU!”  
Odo shifts back to his humanoid form and looks around.  
“ODO, I KNOW YOU’RE IN HERE SOMEWHERE!”  
Odo follows the voice.

“Quark, go away!”  
Quark finally spots him. “Like hell! We’ve been married for nearly a year. I would’ve hoped that when the chips are down, you’d turn to me! Instead you leave me to just … not exist - Alone!”  
Odo folded his arms and huffed. “I don’t want you right now.”  
Quark grabbed his arm. “You don’t want me because you think that I don’t need you. This wall of order and control you have has just been stripped and you don’t think you have anything left!”

Odo looks like he’s about to cry.  
“Well I meant everything I said that night. Remember. I said you are noticed and appreciated. I said I love you. Whether it was permanent or not, it was still noticed and it was still appreciated.” Quark held his hand. “You let Nog grow up into a fantastic husband and father. You gave Rom space to come around on his own. You kept me safe and provided everything for this family, even if it wasn’t the way you’re used to.”  
Odo’s head fell low.  
“You gave up so much for us, and I can’t stand by while you shift angrily alone in the woods until this timeline is deleted. That's not what good husbands do.”

Odo fell to his knees. “I don’t have a purpose anymore.”  
Quark came to the ground with him. “Of course you have purpose. You made a purpose for yourself. Why would a shapeshifter need to drive an automobile? She didn’t, but you did. Why should a shapeshifter continue to keep law and order in a town with a low crime rate? Because it's the right thing to do. Why should he try and make the most of a shitty situation this low life put himself in?” Quark sank. “Because he punished himself enough.”  
Odo held Quark “It sounds sappy, but it hurts the most to think our past selves won’t know what we became, what they could have been.”  
Quark laughed. “Missing me already?”  
Odo playfully pushed him. 

Quark laughed from the ground he was laid on. Odo smiled too. Quark caught his breath. “Hey, you never got to show me all your tricks.”  
Odo shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to fall from a great height and catch myself. The promenade wasn’t high enough.”  
“What else have you never done?”   
Odo had a think. “You mind if I destroy a tree?”  
“Be my guest.”  
Odo calmly stood and angrily punched a tree. Quark flinched as hundreds of splinters of wood exploded out of nowhere. “Odo, where did that come from?”  
Odo stood before the tree he just smashed up. “I can change my density. I’ve always wanted to see how much damage I can cause.”  
Quark may or may not have just pissed himself.

Meanwhile.  
Nog had lavished his lady with expensive foods, gifts, told her stories about home and finally brought her back to Quarks house.  
“So listen, Julie. I wanted to .. be myself with you I guess. If any of this weird you out, please tell me.”  
She perched herself in the kitchen. “Nog, we already had this talk. I don’t mind your differences.”  
Nog decided that was enough. He made a small show out of the onions and pickles in the fruit bowl. He made a slightly bigger show of the spaceship in the garage. He showed her his Ferengi outfit he arrived in and told her the full story, start to finish. She was concerned and scared at first, but she adjusted. Even when explained he was literally from space and 400 years out of time.

When she came to terms with it all, he filled in all the gaps in his stories. He explained how Moogie is a women's rights activist because Ferengi women have even less rights than women here. He explained his kiss with Jake was kept quiet because he doesn’t want Rom to know he likes guys too. This did catch her off guard.  
“But how does that work between two men?”  
“The same as it does with a straight couple. This is actually why I brought you over.”  
She gasped. “Oh no. This is the part where you tell me you’re running away with another man isn’t it?”  
Nog frowned. “No. I still love you, but I thought I could ask you for something.”  
She looked slightly upset. “Nog, I didn’t think you’d stoop as low as to bribe me for sex.”  
“What! This isn't a bribe. I bought you those things because -” Don’t say the worlds about to end. “Because you deserve them. No, I brought you here, because I want to give you something else. Close your eyes.”  
She reluctantly closed her eyes.

Nog pulled a box out from under the bed. He put something unfamiliar in her hand. She pulled an uncertain face trying to figure out what it is, running her thumb along it and trying to identify its texture.  
“Open.”  
She looked down and her eyes bulged out of her head. She shot him a look of confusion and embarrassment.  
He just said it outright. “Would you take my virginity?”  
She needed a minute to collect her thoughts. “Nog, we’re not married.”  
“I know. Not yet, anyway. But then I thought, this way, neither of us are entering the other and you’re not going to get pregnant.”  
She looked even more concerned. “Oh Nog. I'm not sure I can go through with this.” She gave him his toy back.  
“That's fine. I thought I’d ask anyway.”

Out of sheer curiosity she had to ask. “Do you use this … alone?”  
He nods. “But I know when we’re married I’m gonna have to get rid of it.”  
She whispered. “And you like this?”  
He nods more.   
She leans in, still whispering. “Is it yours?”  
Nog gets confused. “As in, I own it, or it is the same as my-”  
“The latter.”  
“Oh. No. I replicated it. You know I told you about the machine in the wall that makes things you need?”  
“Yes, I remember.”  
“Well I asked for a few things to make it easier when it does happen.”

She was getting cheeky now. “Like what?”  
He gives her cheeky smile back. “You wanna see the whole box?”  
She bites her lip. “This is wrong.”  
“Not where I’m from.”

Meanwhile.  
Odo rubs Quarks ears on the floor of the woods. Quark lays in blss while Odo chills out with him.  
“What happens if we’re caught?” Odo whispers.  
“Do I look like I care? We could get caught fucking and I’d be equally unpahsed.”  
“Is that request?”  
“Meh. I’m too relaxed right now. Maybe later we spend the evening getting freaky though.”  
Odo laughs. “We’ll have to see who’s home first. You’re quite noisy.”  
“You love it really.”

Meanwhile   
Back at the house, Julie lays on her back, clutching the sheets. Nog has one hand under her dress. Her face is bright red, her eyes scrunched shut, her back arched. “Stayrightthere. Stayrightthere.”  
Nog keeps hold of the bullet between her legs with a relaxed smile and half lidded eyes. Her muscles contract and she hisses through her teeth.  
Her eyes open wide and she takes a deep breath.  
He giggles. “Done?”  
She moves herself away from him. He turns it off and leaves it on a towel to be cleaned later. She catches her breath and tries to put feeling back in her legs. She swallows and rasps when she speaks. “What else is in the box?”

Meanwhile  
Rom is in Margaret's kitchen. He makes her cup of coffee. She trusts him enough to let him wander freely around the house. There's not much on TV but she watches it anyway. He brings her the drink and takes his place by her side. He likes the intimacy of these moments. Just him and her. He would follow her anywhere she wants to go. Do any task she asked of him. All he wants is her happiness.

Meanwhile  
Quark literally sat on the back of a huge black bear. He struggled to hold on as the bear plods along, almost bouncing.  
“Odo, would you slow down. I’m starting to chafe.”  
The beast slowly melted back down and walked upright as Odo. “That was what you said about the tiger too.”  
Quark pulled his trousers down from riding into his crotch. “Then I guess I wasn’t built to mount, eh?” He gave him a devious smile.  
Odo smiled and rolled his eyes.

“You think we ought to be on our way home? It's getting late.”  
“Are we walking?”  
“Are you tryna scare the living daylights out of our neighbours? Odo, if we are seen as anything other than lady you and myself, we get looked at funny.”  
“Not like I’d mind. It's the last chance we get to be ourselves.”  
Quark snorts. “Well considering your our resident goo monster, and I’m the resident timophile-”  
“What?”  
“Person attracted to gold or wealth.”  
Odo’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh … We can play with that.”  
“I thought you’d never ask.”

Meanwhile  
Nog laid naked on his front. Julie kneels behind him, staring at the back of his head basically.  
“Are you sure this isn’t going to hurt?”  
“I promise, it’ll be good -- for me specifically.”  
She laughed. “If you say so.” She lined the toy up right and leaned over him with it tied around her waist.  
“I’ll let ya know if I’m- aha ha..”  
“You okay?”  
Nog just nodded and whined into the sheet.

She starts moving her hips. Nog moans and whines as she continues. “You don’t sound okay?”  
“Moaning is good .. ah.. Just .. experiment. We’re figuring out what's good.”  
She pushed a little deeper and slid in a little faster. Nog hid in his arms, crying out. Julie likes making him moan now. She speeds up again only for his noises to become more desperate, more needy. She can only imagine how he looks. “Nog, roll over.” She demands.  
He smiles. That’s more like it.

Meanwhile.  
Odo ran by the bank and made a last minute withdrawal. She shoves the wads of notes in her bag and walks back out. Quark is already frustrated and she loves it.  
“What kind of games did you have in mind?” She asks as Quark walks by their side.  
“I was thinking you tie me up and burn it. Maybe you just let me roll around in it. Maybe we count it and estimate its worth in latinum. Maybe you bury me in it, or get naked and bury yourself in it.”  
“Quark calm down, I wanted a few ideas not a whole financial kama sutra.”  
“Does that exist yet? If I could meet the other me, I’d tell him to write it.”  
Odo scoffs. “I’d tell the other me quite a lot too, but what we have is what we’ve got and I say we make the most of it.”  
Quark desperately tried to hold himself together.

Meanwhile  
Nog and Julie are laid out under the sheets completely out of breath.  
“Wow.”  
Nog agree’s. “Wow.”  
They hear the door go. They both pull a terrified face at each other.  
Nog whispers. “Quark and Odo are home.”  
She whispers back. “Can you hear them? From here?”  
Nog frantically nods.  
“What are they saying?”  
“You don’t wanna know.”  
She pulls another face.  
Nog thinks on his feet. “I got an idea. Get your stuff.”

Julie and Nog hastily put their jamamas on and wait for Quark and Odo to close their bedroom door. They quietly take the sheets and such down the stairs and into the garage.  
“Rom wont mind us using the ship.”

Nog makes their new bed in the busted up ship they came in. Julie made herself comfortable. “What do you think made them come home early?”  
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” He got in bed with her. “I hope this evening has been fun for you. I know it wasn’t exactly our honeymoon, but I hope it was close enough.”  
She smiles. “It’s been very exciting.”  
He leans over and kisses her.

Meanwhile  
Upstairs, the bed is completely covered in notes and coins. Quark is pinned down and stripped, by multiple pairs of hands. Odo basically rubs Quark into the bed, all the metal jingeling sounds and rustling paper running right through him.

When Quark opened his eyes a piece of fabric was wrapped around his head, covering his eyes and leaving him completely at the mercy of his hearing. Odo swiftly tied his hands to the head board and stepped back.  
“Tell me you’re helpless.” Odo demands.  
Quark tugs on his restraints, the pressure of his body digging into the currency beneath him. Quark struggles a little more. Odo walks around him slowly. Quark hears shifting but has no idea what’s changed.

“Odo, tell me you’re dressed.”  
“Describe what you think I’m wearing.”  
“What do I win?” He grins.  
Odo climbs onto the bed and runs a note along Quark's bare chest. “For every correct guess, I give you a little reward. For every incorrect guess, I shred a bill at random.”  
Quark stopped breathing. “You wouldn’t.”  
Small pieces of paper gently fell on his belly. “Refusing to play will also result in punishment.”  
Quark arched and gritted his teeth. “You can be a bitch-”  
The sound of paper being ripped violently physically pains Quark.   
“Are you wearing red?”  
Odo runs his finger around Quark's ear. “That's a good start.”

Meanwhile  
Rom is helping put Margaret to bed.  
“Will you be staying the night, Rom? You know I don’t mind, but you didn’t bring any sleep over things with you.”  
Rom turned as she reached for her nightwear. He covered his eyes and looked at the corner away from her. “I - ur .. Forgot. I could run home and get my toothbrush.”  
She made herself decent. “Well don’t let me hold ya back. I’m not going anywhere.”  
“Great. I’ll be right back.” Rom legs it back over the fence.

He rushes into the house and spots Quarks shoes. He must be home. He opens the garage door but before he gets in the ship, only to hear Nog call out. “Dad?”  
Rom stops in the doorway. “Nog? Why are you in the ship?”  
There's a moments silence before Nog speaks again. “Odo and uncle came back and they were making weird noises, so I decided to sleep in here tonight.”  
Rom knows something is not right, but he can’t figure out what. “Well … Can you give me a tricorder and any regenerators we have lying around?”  
Nog fumbles over himself for a minute or two before handing Rom a bag through the door and waving him off.

Rom takes all his stuff over to Margaret's who is getting cosy in bed. She gives him a lazy smile. He makes his bed on the floor by hers and lets her rest. While she’s not looking, he gets a reading. He doesn’t like it. Some sort of autoimmune system problem. Arthritis and a host of other painful problems. Not enough to kill her, but enough for this time period to leave her to suffer.

Rom swallows hard. “Ur … Margaret? I wanted to give you something. It might make you feel better.”  
She smiles at the ceiling. “I swear, if you tell me a joke and say ‘laughter is the best medicine’ I swear to god-”  
“No no. If you don’t want me to do it, I won’t.”  
She gives him a look. “Sure. No harm in trying, eh?”  
Rom knows that's not true, but she trusts him. “Look away and you’ll hear a hiss.”  
She does so. Rom quickly hypo sprays her.

She slowly turns her head back. “Rom, what was that?”  
“Did - Did it help?”  
She raises her knees and bends her fingers. “It doesn’t hurt.”  
“Oh, don’t over do it. It's only temporary.”  
“How temporary?”  
“12 hours.”  
“12 HOURS. That’s like a lifetime. C’mon, we’re going out.” She gets up a lot quicker than she went to bed and lunges for her clothes.   
Rom isn’t sure how safe this is anymore.

Meanwhile  
Nog and Julie lay in bed again. “What did he want?”  
“Painkiller and antibiotics basically.”  
She snuggles further into him. “Glad to see those exist in the future.”  
He smiles. “A lot more exists too.”  
“I can hear the challenge in your voice. Go on. What else exists?”  
“Birth control - for example.”  
She furrows her brow. “Excuse me?”  
“It's a hypo that stops you getting pregnant. There's one for me too in case you forget yours.”

Now she's even more confused. “But I thought you wanted children?”  
“Oh, I do, but not every time we have sex.”  
She laughs. “Would that be too many kids?”  
He remembers earlier. “Julie? How many children would we have if you could choose?”  
“Depends on how I find birth. One if it nearly kills me.”  
Nog cuddles her. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”  
“Would you save me with your hypersprays?”  
He laughs. “Hypo. And yes. I would.”

She laughs. “Do they hurt?”  
“You don’t even notice they’ve been used … expect for the hiss. It gives it away.”  
She goes quiet for a moment. “How long do they last?”  
Nog has to actually think about that one. “Ur … A month I think? I’m sure I’ve heard a month somewhere.”  
“Is that all?” She says, like it's a relief.  
“You can get longer lasting ones, but the basic one is a month.”

She goes quiet again.  
Nog says it for her. “Would you like to try it?”  
“Are you sure it’ll work? What are the side effects? Can you take it too?”  
“Sweety, I wouldn’t give you anything I wouldn’t take myself, but .. does this mean we’re going further tonight?”  
She held the covers. “I’d like to see how hypo makes me feel first.”  
He kisses her. “That’s fine. I wouldn’t ask any more of you if you didn’t want anymore.” He jumps up the replicator. 

While he’s staring at it, it realises something. “Julie? Can you read any of this?” He points to the shapes and symbols on the wall.  
She shakes her head.  
“Computer; Translate writing into English.”  
She looks around. “Oh my.”  
“C’mere, I’m gonna show you how to use this thing.”

Meanwhile  
Rom walks Margeret around town. She has a skip in her step and a smile on her face. Rom is equally happy as he is terrified. What if she hurts herself? What if someone notices that she’s suddenly better?

“Rom, sweety, you look unhappy.”  
“Ur .. I’m just worried you’re overdoing it.”  
She waves his concern away. “Pshaw … I haven’t felt this good in years.”  
He tries to pull her attention away “But maybe that's not a good-”  
“Oh my gosh! Rom. Can you dance?”  
“Not well.”  
“That wasn’t a no.” She took him by the hand into a small club. A live band, a bar, a small dance floor. Rom looked around for people they know, but Margaret was already dragging him toward the music.

She spun them into the limelight and held his hand as she moved them in time to the very happy song. He’s sure the word swing or Jazz has been used in places like this, but he hasn’t been out enough to know.

She quickly noticed his discomfort and stopped. “Oh, I’m sorry sweety. I’m getting so excited about feeling better, I forgot to ask what you wanted.”  
She sounds so much like Moogie, it hurts. 

Without knowing what to do, he just held her close in a hug. She held him close herself and gently swayed with him.  
“Shhh…. My special little friend.”  
It took everything Rom had not to break down in tears right there.

Meanwhile  
Quark kneels on all fours naked, on a bed on notes and coins, still blind folded. Odo kneels behind him, holding him in place while he takes him. Quark pants and quietly screeches through his teeth. He loves the metal shaking around his hands and the paper scratching against his bare skin, while Odo mercilessly slams into him.

Odo didn’t stop as he pulled Quark upright and forced his mouth to his own. Quark moaned and struggled while Odo breaks into his mouth with his tongue and ravages him.  
Quark comes undone unexpectedly. Odo stops and lets him collapse freely.  
“Done?”  
Quark is still catching his breath. “Like hell we are. I’m going four for four.”

Meanwhile  
Nog and Julie sit facing each other on the bed nearly naked. She tilts her head and he applies the hypo. He presses some buttons on it and hits himself. “You feel any different?”  
“No.” She smiles.  
“That's good.” He puts it down. “So how did you wanna go about this?”  
She laughs. “I don’t know. This was your idea.”  
He laughs. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I just know that I want it.”  
She touches his knee. “Then tell me what you want, exactly.”

He goes bright red and shuffles closer. “I ur … I imagined us being very close. I imagined being warm and .. touchy.”  
She smiles harder. “Touchy?”  
He rests his hand on her leg. “Lots of touching.” He stares at the only covered up parts on her body.  
“Did you imagine me fully naked?” She whispers.  
He can’t look her in the eye but nods.

She puts her arms behind her back. Nog suddenly perks up. He wasn’t expecting her to play along so quickly. She pulls her bra off and puts his hand over the corresponding boob. Nog looks like he just had a heart attack. “What else?”  
He runs his thumb over her nipple. She gasps. “That noise. I like noise.”  
She looks down at his member. “Will it hurt?”  
He quickly looks down on himself. “Did you wanna get to know him better? It's not big or anything. Jeez listen to me selling myself, huh?”

She falls further down and removes his boxers again. “Yours isn’t like your toy.”  
“No, not exactly. It's the same principle though.”  
She rubs along it. He exhales and crosses his eyes. “Do I need to do anything?”  
Nog tries to pull his thoughts together. “Ur … not for me, but maybe you’d like warming up?”  
“How so?”  
He pushes her onto her back. “Remember christmas?”  
“Oh” She blushes.

Meanwhile  
Quark lays in the bath. The water is not water.  
“Do that vibrate thing again” The liquid reverberates around him. Quark tenses up and his eyes roll back. “I love last-day-to-exist sex.”

Meanwhile  
Rom holds Margarets hand as they walk through the empty streets of the town. She’s missed eating hard food, and dancing, and going on long walks in the dark. Rom has enjoyed their time together, but he seems so unsure of where the night is going. Margaret has no intentions beyond sharing her new found freedom with the man who gave it to her. She just can’t understand why he looks so unsure of himself.

Rom looks up to see her happy face smiling back at him. He gives her a wobbly smile back.  
She decided she’s had her fun. “Rom, sweety, do you wanna go home?”  
He hesitates. “To your home, or my home?”  
She squeezes his hand. “You’re family. My home is your home.”  
He hides in his shoulders.  
“What’d ya say? Shall we call it a night?”  
He gives her a weak nod. She leads them back home.

Meanwhile  
Nog rests over Julie, slowly kissing her neck with their hands interlocked. She lays with her eyes closed and her hair a mess, letting Nog take control, as he has for most of the night. Trust well placed, is all she can think.   
“And you’re sure?” He asks one last time.  
She holds his face. “I am.”  
He gave her plenty of warning pushing into her.  
Her face suddenly changed and he froze up with her.   
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?”  
She didn’t move. “I’m fine.”  
Nog reacted completely in impulse. “If this hurts, tell me.”

She didn’t speak before he slid back and pushed further in. Her toes curled and her hips bucked slightly. He nearly collapsed on her and tried to do it again. She reacted more welcoming to it this time, and the next and the next. By this point they’d got a steady rhythm going. Nog had been completely lost to the moment and seems to have phased out. Julie’s mind was overrun with feelings, words, wants, fears, needs and so much more. Instead, the only noise to come out of her mouth was an uncontrollable moan.

Nog’s attention suddenly came back. “Please do that again.”  
“Then keep going.” She demanded.

Meanwhile  
Quark sat at the head of the bed, brushing through Odo’s long lady hair while she reads to him from her most recent novel. Quark likes hair, but has always felt creepy for trying to get near it. Odo doesn't mind, and she wants to share this particular story with Quark while they’re having down time. 

Quark happily plays with it and takes in Odo’s enthusiasm for the story. He fiddles with the hair and breaths in her sweet scent.  
Bliss.

Meanwhile  
Margaret sits on the floor with Rom. She rests on him and tells him stories. He silently listens and takes it all in. She is so much more expressive now she’s free of her disability. She talks with her hands, changes tone of voice, turns to and away from him regularly with more facial expressions.

She notices he hasn’t said much.  
“Are you tired, son?”  
Rom wasn’t expecting that word. “No… ”  
She put her hand on his knee. “You don’t have to pretend to be happy for my sake you know. I can handle a bit o’ bad news.”  
“I’m not pretending. It's nice to see you like this.”  
She looked down for a split second. “Thank you, Rom. For being here with me. For looking after me. For being honest. You’re my special little friend. So innocent. So misunderstood. But don’t you worry, because we got each other now, and we’re gonna look after each other.” She pats him on the shoulder with a confident friendly smile plastered on her face.

Rom only sinks further. He is very happy to be here, but he knows their time is limited. The fact he’s waiting for 12 oclock to strike makes him sick to his stomach. She is the innocent one, so unaware that their time is limited. He’s not sure how he can sleep knowing that tomorrow morning will never come, and this time they have spent together won’t ever have happened. All he needs to do is pretend this is like any other day and keep her in that ignorant bliss.

Rom looks down nervously and back up. “Could you tell me stories until I fall asleep? I’m not feeling very well.”  
Her mothering attitude kicked right in. “Of course sweety. Do you want me to get ya something to make you feel better? A drink maybe? Some medicine?”  
“No no, it’ll settle. But thank you.”  
She gave him another warm smile and nodded then back off to the bedroom.

*

By midnight, Quark was laid in a mess of money, bed sheets and Odo, Nog was happily curled around Julie under warm covers asleep, and Rom had passed out to the sweet sound of a middle aged woman explaining the plot of a film that he watched not 2 days ago.

The men in black nodded to one and another and pressed the button.

Rom at the helm, Quark and Odo stood by each other's side, clinging on for security while Nog watches through the view screen.   
The console speaks.  
The whole crew jump for joy as they finally made it home from area 51 and back to their current time period.

Odo can’t wait to arrest Quark for smugging, Rom is just glad they're alive, Nog gets to go to starfleet and Quark thinks he might sell the ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over.


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this is what tipped section 31 off ....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real timeline.

Extra

Nog’s wedding was a very big deal. Her entire family came and they met Rom, Margaret, Quark and Odo. Julie took the name Smith as her own and they moved to the next city over. Nog’s interview was successful and he worked very happily under a brand new construction company.

They didn’t hear much from him after that, just christmas gatherings and babysitting his kids brought them together. 

A few years on, Quark and Odo were terrified by the sound of Rom storming through the house at stupid o’clock at night. They ran down stairs to find him scrambling through the replicator and panicking about something.  
“Rom, what wrong?” Quark starts.  
“She stopped breathing. I don’t- I don’t .. Blessed exchequer, I’m going down for this one.” Rom starts hyperventilating.   
Odo turns the ship on. “I’m going to beam her over and we get a proper scan. From there, we can make a rational decision about how to proceed.”

One sparkly light later, Margaret is laid out in the ship with Rom getting a scan and Odo going through the replicator menu of medicines and medical equipment.  
“Odo, what if she wakes up?” Quark kneels on the floor with her.  
Odo waves his concern off. “Pft, who’s she going to tell?”  
Rom handed the tricorder to Odo. “I’m sure she’ll understand brother, and she’ll keep quiet about this.”  
Odo passed Rom the correct hypospray. “No one will believe her anyway.”  
Rom pressed it to her neck.

Her eyes shoot open. “Rom?”  
“I’m here.”  
“What happened?”  
Rom looks to Odo.  
Quark spoke first. “Rom says you were having an episode. We carried you back here to look after you.” He spoke reluctantly.  
She smiled at Rom. “Oh sweety. Look at you, my guardian angel.”

Odo put her hand on Quark's shoulder. She gave him a thankful smile.

The next morning they had a word.  
“We can’t keep her alive forever!” Quark slammed his hands on the table.  
“I never said forever. I just think now is too soon.” Rom said meekly to the table.  
“And when is not too soon? 10 years? 20? 30?” He slowly wandered around the table.  
Rom looked up just past his eyebrows. “Just until something unavoidable.”  
Quark shot a look at Rom. “UnAvOiDaBlE?” Rom sinks. “How much more unavoidable do you want than death himself?”

Odo remains quiet at the table. Rom glances at her. Quark notices their momentary eye contact. “You got something you wanna add?” He glares at Odo.  
Odo barely reacts. “The average life expectancy here is stupidly low, all things considered. They smoke, drink, work stressful jobs and live in pollution and irradiated environments. Margaret has done none of these, yet Rom saved her from death at 56.”  
Quark turns his anger to Odo. “So you think it's fine to play god?”  
Odo remains strong in her position. “She holds no religious identity. She has committed no crimes. No sins against her. I don’t see the harm in giving her a few more years.” Odo turns to Rom. “You’ll know when it’s time.”  
Rom loses colour in his face.  
Quark looks livid with the whole situation.

Many more years later.   
Christmas is here again. The Ferengi family are first on the visit list, and Nog’s teenage son has asked to stay over instead of seeing the ‘American’ side of the family. Julie has agreed to let him stay here this year. They have 2 other younger children who would very much prefer to see the other side of the family.

Nog and Julie leave Jacob (Guess who picked his name.) with Grandpa Rom, Quark and Odo.

As most young teenagers do, the first thing on the list was to push every boundary in the house. He tried to open Quark and Odo’s door, which was locked. Then attempted the garage which was locked. He noticed a few cupboards were locked. Odo kept an eye on him. Jacob kept an eye on Odo.

Eventually, Jacob pushed the boat all the way out, trying to physically injure Odo. Odo saw it coming and either avoided it or came prepared.  
Jacob “accidentally” caught her with a knife. Odo “bled”.  
“Oh no. I accidentally caught you.” Jacob spoke with venom in his voice.   
Odo continued to pour some sort of red substance from her body. “Aw well, accidents happen.” She opened a cabinet to find a bandage, but this time Jacob beat her to it. 

He took her hand and wiped the blood off, quickly tasting it off his own fingers before Odo could react.   
Jacob spat the substance out. “This is food colouring.”  
Odo continued the charade. “I don’t know who’s blood your tasting, but that doesn't sound healthy.”  
“YOURS! What ever the fuck you are.”  
“Watch your mouth.” Odo bandaged the finger up. “I’ll have to have a word with Nog-”

Jacob became extremely aggressive quickly. “I know you’re covering something up. I’m gonna find out what it is, if it kills me.”  
Odo got a little smug. “Oh? And what evidence do you have?”  
“Why’s there a lock on the garage?”  
“Home security.”  
“What about the cupboards?”  
“Quarks dieting.”  
“Why’s your bedroom need several locks from the outside?” He bared his teeth.  
Odo only reveled in it. “That is for YOUR safety.”

“I didn’t need to know that.”  
“The only thing more dangerous than a question-”  
“THAT! What are these rules? Why does dad know 285 of them and mother knows none?”  
Odo tapped her fingers. “It's a cultural thing.”  
“But you know them.” He crossed his arms.  
“I learned them because Quark used them to avoid jail time.”  
“Uh huh. I call bullshit. I get my teeth filed down every month. My diet is sugar free. My heartbeat comes from the wrong place.” Jacob falls into a seat. “We’re not Human, are we?”

Odo caves. She never did like the prime directive.  
She kneels “Are you happy with your life, Jake?”  
He nods weakly.  
“I’m going to show you something. If you tell anyone, including your mother, the life you enjoy right now, will no longer be available, but maybe you’ll find some solace in it. Are you ready?”  
The boy suddenly looks nervous. He nods anyway.

Odo shifts to male.

Jacob did a double take. “What?!”  
“This is only the beginning. You’re not Human, Jake, but trust me when I say, you’re better off with Humans.”  
He’s still freaking out. “Why are you a man now?”  
“I’ll be a bird if you want? Or a book? What if I just vanished?” Odo turns see through. “I learned this one recently. Quite proud of myself actually.”  
“Oh my god, what are we actually? How did we get here? Is this real?”  
Odo comes back as a lady and stands. “It's all real, but for your own safety, just be the most Human you can be and treasure your non-human gifts.”  
“Gifts?”

Odo returned to cooking. “You’ll notice your naturally gifted in mathematics, your memory should be far superior to a Humans, you’ll outlive all of your friends … Down sides are, you need a constant supply of bugs, your teeth sharpening, and you will be considerably weaker than your Human counterparts. Did you want dinner?”  
“Ur …. Sure?”  
Odo used goo fingers to unlock the cupboard. Jacob’s eyes widened. “I’m assuming Nog feeds you live food?” In the cupboard was a small farm for different insects. A black box of roaches, a large tank for grasshoppers, a smaller tank for crickets and a long box full of dirt for worms. “Or maybe your Human half doesn’t agree with it?”  
Jacob isn’t sure if he wanted to know.

Years on.  
Rom finally let Margaret go. She was in her 80’s which was slightly above average age for this time period, but Rom had decided she was suffering too much and waited for a good day to let her go, refusing to interfere with her passing, as long as she was in no pain.

He didn’t fully recover from her death, but he did decide to turn his attention to the things she told him he was good at. General electronics, health and social care or mechanics. Quark and Odo did a lot to keep him on his feet which he recovered and found a new purpose. 

Years on.  
Quark and Odo decided to move while the times were changing. They’d lived in the same house for nearly 50 years and neither had aged. Baby Harry was a middle aged man by this point. The year was 1995. They’d seen so much on this street and Odo had tried to look older, changing her hair to be lighter and developing an odd wrinkle.

They decided to move somewhere out of the way of people. Somewhere warm. Somewhere like Australia. They could hide miles away from other Humans, give Odo space to shapeshift, Quark has plenty of bugs and they could start a brand new life and cover story.

Quark sold all his shares in the newspaper business and disappeared with Odo.

Years on.  
Nog lost Julie. They pulled together as a family for a while after that. 

The whole family needs to have a word. Jacob took his siblings out of the house while Quark, Rom, Odo and Nog talked.  
“Nog, I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I think we need to discuss what the kids know and how we plan our own departure?”  
Nog fiddled with his wedding ring. “She wanted a christan burial, and I promised I’d go with her when the time came.”  
Rom held his shoulder. “Nog, we might make it to 400. Julie made it to 90. Someone’s going to notice.”  
Nog broke down into tears. Rom pulled him into a hug.

Odo had some sort of a solution. “It would be possible to fake our deaths and start new identities, although getting caught for such a thing would only land us back in area 51.”  
Quark chirped in. “Or it’ll be so confusing they assume it's a mistake?”  
“Nice wishful thinking, but someone will trace us all the way back to the first sighting of 3 little green men and a shapeshifter who broke out of area 51 in 1947.”

Rom held Nog while he recovered. “I’ll do whatever is safest for my family.” He says with his face in Rom’s shoulder.  
“Ur .. Nog? Do you still have that book about Earth's history?”  
“Urh huh?”  
“ … I think we need to take a look at it.”

They break the book out and plan their next move. Odo decided it would be best if they stay close and move as a family. Quark still has plans to start a new life and get back into business, but Odo decides his success in newspapers was more than enough and by the time Humans actually meet aliens, they can’t have it in recent history that a Ferengi made it to the top of their economic ladder.

They all agreed, including the kids, who eventually came to terms with their Ferengi identity and played along with the lie Odo and Quark made up all those years ago.

Many years of ups and down followed.

They moved a few more times.

Then Quark got sick.

Odo and Quark were left to their own devices, as Nog and Rom know how the Ferengi immune system works and give Odo and Quark their space.

Quark lays in bed looking worse for wear. Odo sits by his side reading to him.  
“Odo … Were you serious about waiting out the next few hundred years?”  
Odo sighed and pulled himself together. “Ur … I’m not sure.”  
Quark went quiet for a moment. Then gave up and just said it straight. “If I don’t make it-”  
“Don’t say that.”  
“Odo, it needs saying. If I don’t make it, I need to know you got everything covered.” He reaches out for his hand.

Odo gave Quark his bravest face. “I’m not sure what I’d do without you. My purpose has moved again it seems. I never thought I’d be part of a family because of my inability to breed or grow old …”  
“Odo, look at me. This family is yours as much as mine. Difference is that you just grow, without the disadvantages of age like the rest of us.” Quark gestures to the lines in his face and cocks his head for comedic effect.  
Odo smiles but inside he still feels hollow.

“If I’m not here Odo, I need to know you’ll be okay.”  
Odo squeezed his hand back. “I’m not going to promise anything, because I’ve never dealt with grief, but then again, I never thought the first person I lose would be the most precious.”  
Quark laughed and coughed at the same time. “Oh shush you. You have done so much in the name of keeping this family safe and I know you’ll continue to do so without me.”  
“I’m not ready to lose you.”  
“Odo, I don’t know if you know this, but Ferengi don’t get sick. Rule ur … rule 23 I think. Nothing is more important than your health … Except your money. But I’m sUpPoSeDlY retired.” Quark sighs and stares at the ceiling. “All that insurance I paid-”  
“Not the point, Quark.”  
“You’re right. You’re right. I want cremating-”  
“Quark stop it.”  
“No, we need to have this talk. I can’t do this the Ferengi way-”  
“Quark please stop.”  
“-And I don’t want to be dug up by these .. Hu-mons, in hundreds of years time-”  
“Quark! Stop it. I- I don’t want to think like that right now.”

Quark gave up and stopped talking. Odo looked about ready to crumble. Quark knows Odo’s not strong enough to deal with emotions like these. He needs to deal with them alone.

It was only after it was too late that Rom had to explain that Ferengi don’t get sick because they have an unusually high immune system, so when something does get them, it's typically fatal. It's why most Ferengi don’t make it to their hundreds. If their schemes don’t kill them, they get wiped out by stupid infections and msyterious diseases.

Nog did his best to console Odo. He mostly just kept him company while he grieved. Odo couldn’t cry but that kind of made it worse, that he had no release. 

After the rest of the family had dealt with it, Odo spent a lot of time doing unusual things. Walking off into the desert and coming back in a week or two. He stopped talking for a few months. The family gave him plenty of space and offered him reprieve when they could. He never accepted.

Many years later, Nog’s kids were ready to move on to literally anywhere by the Australian desert. Odo remained stubbornly in place. Rom stayed with him. Nog followed his family back to America. By this point, it was the early 2000’s. Nog wanted his family to endeavour in some traditional Ferengi capitalism before the planet became socialist. It's what Quark would have wanted.

Rom had nowhere to go and stayed with Odo. He couldn’t even tell if he was welcome in Odo’s space, but he never showed any discomfort with his presence.

Many more years later, Odo lost Rom too.

He lost contact with Nog.

It was only another hundred years before the youngest of Nog’s kids sent a letter giving him the bad news that Nog had also been killed.

The year was 2080 before Odo made the trip to Mars. By this point, his face was much better. He had ears right and he got the texture of skin perfect.

The years seemed to disappear before Odo. He could hide anywhere as anything, free of any responsibilities. He literally flew into space a few times. He mimicked voices. He extended how long he could survive without regeneration. 

News broke of the occupation. Odo recollected the life he was currently leading in this timeline. He should still be floating through space. Then he’ll be found and forgotten. Then Mora will pick him up. Odo shuddered at the thought. Then he realised he’s still in Mora’s form. In that moment he built a brand new form. Something different that no one would recognise as Odo.

Many more years. The occupation ends and the Federation moves into Bajoran space. Odo wonders if Quark is alive here? He thinks dark thoughts for a split second before realising how pathetic he looks. The Quark he fell in love with has been dead for a few hundred years. Odo wonders about going to Bajor just before they get on the ship and stopping this whole time line from happening. He gives up on it.

Years later.  
Odo makes his way in full disguise to Bajor, on the right date, hopefully to arrive soon after they leave. Unfortunately, he broke the minute he saw Quark. The whole facade fell apart, quickly shifting back into the Odo they know.

“Quark!”  
The Ferengi spun around and looked puzzled at Odo. “Did you fix your ears?”  
Odo shook. “You noticed my ears?”  
“Yeah? You been practicing? Huge improvement, gotta tell ya, but if you'll excuse me, I’m taking my nephew to Earth.”  
Odo quickly turned to see Nog. “Oh my gosh, look at you. How old are you? You’re so … young.”  
Nog’s confusion could be felt from space. “Odo, you feeling alright?”  
Odo started frantically looking for other people. “Is Kira still here?” 

Quark and family are now seriously concerned. “Ur … Nog? Maybe, you ask if the chief can give you a ride or something?”  
Odo snaps back into it. “Wait? Where the hell am I?”  
Quark starts backing his family away from Odo. “You’re right here?”  
“No, I mean. Wait. I’m messing the timeline by being where I am? Shouldn’t the timeline have dissipated by now?”  
“Odo … I’m saying this because I care about you, but you need to go lay down or something.”

Odo slowed himself down. “You’re right. You’re always right.”  
Quark smiles proudly. “Took you long enough to come to your senses.”  
Odo smiled back. Then proceeded to take Quark by the face and pull him into a kiss.  
Quark pushed Odo away with some force. “Odo, what hell is wrong with you today?!” He said, wiping his mouth.

Odo fell apart from the inside out again. In his moment of panic, he shifts and flies away.

He sits on the outside of the station, looking out toward the wormhole. Maybe he should just go back and be dead in this timeline. His people did want him back. But what about Kira? What about the war?

While he considers his future he forgot about the past. He just let Quark, Rom and Nog get on the ship with himself smuggling the chemical that caused them to time travel.

Without realising it, he just caused a time loop.

Odo slowly melts back into the station and confides in the only person left.

“Odo, you’re not making any sense.” Kira tells him from her desk.  
“I can’t explain it any other way. I’m not from this time period. I was on that ship with Quark, then we got married, he grew old and died, here I am.”  
Kira was frozen in confusion. “Here’s an idea … Go see Bashir and -”  
“I forgot about Julian! Did he ever tell Garak about- … Never mind.”  
Kira is still confused. “Bashir will tell us if you’re the real you.”  
Odo nods. “Okay. But since this is the new future, I feel it's only right to tell you that I had feelings for you. Of course, I’m currently in 1947 and this version is still grieving Quark.”  
“Odo, go to infirmary.”  
“Right.”

Odo walks out calm and collected. The second he leaves, she reports it to section 31 on Starfleet's orders.

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more .. I promise


End file.
